76-year-old takes national postgraduate entrance exam

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This year’s national postgraduate entrance exam kicked off across China on Saturday morning. And it is not the first time for 76-year-old Zou Weimin to sit the exam.

After getting his Bachelor's degree at Jiaxing University in 2014, Zou is taking the exam for the fifth time at the test center of Jiaxing Technician College in east China's Zhejiang Province, to pursue his goal of studying at postgraduate levels, which sets no age restriction since 2013.

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At the age of 63, Zou took his first “Gaokao”, or the National College Entrance Examination, and was enrolled in Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences. He became the oldest college student in China since the age limit for the exam was lifted in 2001.

In 2012, he was admitted into the Environmental Engineering Department at Jiaxing University. After graduation in 2014, he began his next challenge – to pass the national postgraduate entrance exam.

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Since childhood, Zou has been in love with reading but as he didn’t come from a well-off family, he had chosen to work. He tried different jobs such as sales, warehouse management and teaching, yet he still had a dream of going to college.

"If you stop reading, you will feel empty. People must have ambition. It is never too old to learn,” said Zou.

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According to the Ministry of Education, a total of 2.38 million Chinese will sit the national postgraduate entrance exam from Dec 23 to 25, an increase of 370,000 people from 2016.

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A national survey shows growing pressure in the job market is the major reason motivating more college graduates to pursue postgraduate studies.