BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua)
-- Li Ming's decision to end
his 20-year marriage was made six
months ago, but he and his then
wife delayed getting divorced until
after their child had taken the
all-important gaokao, or national college
entrance exam.
Pretending to be
reconciled, the couple helped their
son prepare for the competitive
gaokao, which is regarded as the
most important path to receive a
higher education.
"We would
have had regrets for the rest
of our lives if our son had
failed the exam because of our
breakup," the 42-year-old father from
Wuhan City in central China's
Hubei Province said.
Like Li,
many Chinese parents face irreconcilable
differences but delay their divorce
until the gaokao, with the hope
of minimizing the negative impact on
their child's performance in the
exam.
The test is described
as the "single-log bridge" to receive
an education in college and many
examinees view it as a "life-or-death"
moment.
This year's exam
was on June 8.
According to
statistics from Chaoyang district court
in Beijing, the number of divorces
filed 20 days after the exam has
been more than twice as high as
the figure for 20 days before over
the past few years.
The
Daxing district court in southern
Beijing has also seen a spike
in divorces after the exam in
recent years. A court employee said
145 divorces were filed 20 days after
the gaokao last year compared to 38
filed 20 days before. The figures for
this year are not yet
available.
Fang Yuzhou, a
lawyer with Beijing Yingke Law Firm,
has noticed an increase in the
number of divorce cases after the
exam this year.
Parents are
very sensitive to their child's
exam stress but think it unnecessary
to maintain a broken marriage after
the gaokao, said Fang.
Parents
choose after the exam because they
believe their child is independent and
mature enough to accept the
decision.
"I felt deeply
disappointed after learning about their
separation, but I respect their
decision," Li Ming's son
said.
A woman surnamed Wang,
also from Wuhan, divorced her husband
shortly after her daughter's national
college entrance exam.
"I feel
so relieved after ending the long-term
agony of my unaffectionate marriage
and now I can live for myself,"
she said.
Parents should not
be excessively criticized for getting
divorced, said Feng Guilin, a
researcher with the Hubei Academy of
Social Sciences, adding that they have
the right to pursue their own
happiness by separating from each
other.
"It's rational and
responsible for parents to patch up
and focus on their child's
preparation prior to the gaokao," Feng
added.
