▲ On June 7, 2025, in Sanmenxia, Henan, examinees review materials at the exam site. Henan welcomes the first exam under the new college entrance examination system.
High school history teacher Wang Zhiying has not taught a class for nearly half a year since November 2025.
The changes came unexpectedly in her county in central Henan province. After subject selection in early November, fewer than 170 students out of nearly 2000 in the first year chose history, reducing history classes to three. Out of 20 history teachers in the research group, nearly half faced the reality of “no one to teach.”
This is not an isolated case. Several history teachers told Southern Weekly reporters about their current predicament of “guarding the cold stove.”
Since the State Council issued the “Implementation Opinions on Deepening the Reform of Examination and Enrollment System” in 2014, the new college entrance examination reform has gradually premiered in phases. By 2025, all 29 provinces (except Xinjiang and Tibet) have implemented the new exam model.
The reform originally aimed to break the boundaries between arts and sciences and expand students’ choices, but in practice, selection has become increasingly homogenized, with students more inclined toward physics, leaving history as a subject many choose to avoid.
Li Muzhou, deputy director of the Center for imperial examination and testing research at Zhejiang University, analyzed for Southern Weekly reporters that subject selection is increasingly bound to college majors and job prospects, and the phenomenon of “prioritizing choice” has in some ways aggravated competition and differentiation. The recent “abandonment” of history is a phase-related fluctuation following policy adjustments.
In this wave of fluctuations, some history teachers have had no classes to teach and have had to consider changing jobs or leaving the classroom.
“More evident in key high schools”
The key high school where Wang Zhiying works in Henan province has always excelled in science subjects. Each grade has about 30 classes, with more than twenty science classes and only 6-8 liberal arts classes. In the past, even with a gap, each history teacher could at least teach one liberal arts class.
Since the implementation of the new college entrance examination, the gap between liberal arts and sciences has been widened further. As the fifth batch to implement the new exam, Henan began the selection system “3+1+2” in 2022: compulsory subjects include Chinese, Mathematics, and English, while history and physics must be selected as one of the two primary subjects; then students choose two from politics, geography, chemistry, and biology.
In 2023, the second year of the new exam’s implementation, school pre-selection showed that only four history classes could be formed. The school once postponed the division, hoping students would revert to select history after the monthly exams, but the results were minimal.
At that time, Wang Zhiying had just completed a round of classes for seniors and faced reallocation. In her early 30s, most of her colleagues had more teaching experience, making it hard for her to be assigned to liberal arts classes. She frankly stated that to take over such a class, she’d need to wait for ten years for colleagues to retire.
As expected, Wang Zhiying was assigned to teach history in five physics classes, one session per week until the history exam ended in May of the following year.
Starting from the spring semester of 2025, many places nationwide began implementing a dual-day-off system. To ensure the teaching schedule for physics classes, the school canceled the original weekly history lesson, only providing concentrated classes one month before the regular high school academic qualification exam.
From that moment, Wang Zhiying became a teacher without classes. She stated that among approximately 500 teachers in the school, about 20 had no classes to teach. Apart from those who were sick or too old, most were history teachers.
While other teachers were teaching, she and several “remaining” history teachers exchanged looks, responsible for organizing exercises, producing courseware, conducting research, or temporarily handling administrative affairs.
At a provincial-level historical discipline exchange meeting in Henan, Wang Zhiying learned that the phenomenon of excess history teachers was common, particularly in key high schools.
Not only in Henan, but a history teacher from Hunan told Southern Weekly reporters that in the top three high schools in his city, only three classes out of 24 were history tracks, while there were four history teachers.
Three Forces
Many frontline teachers recounted that since the implementation of the new college entrance exam, students, making practical considerations, have leaned towards selecting physics, with the trend of “heavy science and light arts” becoming increasingly glaring.
Feng Linqing, a history teacher at a private high school in Hebei, recalled that when she joined the school in 2022, it predominantly focused on liberal arts, and the number of history classes far exceeded that of physics. In the following years, history classes steadily declined. By 2025, the number of physics classes finally exceeded that of history for the first time, reaching eight, while history classes were only seven. She was even surprised that some students who originally struggled with physics started choosing the physics direction.
Southern Weekly reporters learned that the abandonment of history seems to be the result of three converging forces.
The most immediate consideration is the professional coverage. Several interviewed teachers mentioned that physics combinations clearly lead to more professional fields. For example, with the common “physics and chemistry” combination, it nearly covers most majors, while the combination centered around history offers significantly limited options.
Behind the differences lies the policy guidance. The Ministry of Education issued the “General Guidelines on Subject Selection for Undergraduate Enrollment in General Colleges” in 2021, which reinforced the requirements for selected subjects. About 70% of majors require compulsory physics, and about 60% require compulsory physics and chemistry.
The policy adjustment is seen as a response to the abandonment of physics and chemistry by some provinces earlier in the reform. Li Muzhou pointed out that this adjustment is correlated with national industrial structures and talent needs, responding to the demand for cultivating talents in science and engineering fields but, to some extent, changing the balance between subjects.
The reduction of liberal arts at the higher educational end magnifies the sensation of the retreat of the liberal arts.
In March 2025, Jin Li, president of Fudan University, stated in an interview with Southern Weekly that the proportion of enrollment in liberal arts would drop from around 30-40% to approximately 20%. During the national two sessions in 2026, Liao Xiangzhong, secretary of the Communist Party Committee of Communication University of China, claimed the school had abruptly eliminated 16 undergraduate majors and directions, including translation and photography.
More pragmatic factors include the differences in admission scores. In many provinces, the undergraduate admission score line for the physics direction is generally lower than that of history, and the former admits more students than the latter. For instance, in Henan, the undergraduate line for physics is 427 points, with a college acceptance rate of 62.7%, while the line for history is 471 points, with an acceptance rate of 25.6%.
To improve the admission rates, schools also tend to lean towards this direction. Feng Linqing stated that in the pre-selection assembly, the leaders compared the score lines and admission quotas between arts and sciences, emphasizing the advantages of physics combinations, even stating “liberal arts is hard to find jobs.” Sometimes, Feng Linqing also received school notices indicating liberal arts should assign less homework, allowing students more time to study science and mathematics.
For 13 years providing counseling services for students and parents on admission, Yang Lin told Southern Weekly reporters that at the beginning of the new college entrance examination implementation, students and parents were more concerned about subject selection, and even schools would reach out for inquiries about subject selection matters.
Now, students often have already locked in on the physics direction and focus more on which majors are more favorable for employment with the binding of “physics and chemistry”.
Employment expectations have expedited decision-making. Wang Zhiying recalls that in the second year after the subject selection system was implemented, situations turned rapidly. As employment pressures increased, students who previously “had no ideas” began to actively seek information online, comparing the academic combinations regarding professional scopes and career prospects.
Wang Zhiying joked in the office: “As long as I can guarantee that choosing the history direction will lead to good job outcomes,” the registration rate for history would rise.
In limited resources in county cities, the challenging class management has forced the selection of “package” systems over “mobile classes.” Available combinations are not theoretical dozens, but only those that the school can schedule. The school Wang Zhiying works at provides five combinations, four for physics direction, and only one for history direction, which is “history, politics, and geography.”
Professional coverage, career outlook, and reduced choice in county schools further limits selection opportunities.
Wang Wendong, an associate professor at Northwest Normal University’s School of Educational Science, conducted an investigation on 2,445 high school students in Lanzhou, Gansu Province in 2023 and found students often make utilitarian subject selection strategies aiming for “maximum scores.” Wang Wendong told Southern Weekly reporters: “Many students choose physics not because they like physics but as the best option based on weighing multiple factors.”
Data supports this shift. Southern Weekly reporters organized the score distribution chart for college entrance examinations in various provinces and found that in the 23 provinces implementing the “3+1+2” model, nearly half have seen a continuous decline in the proportion of history candidates, with physics and history ratios generally approaching 7:3, with some provinces even reaching 8:2. For example, the proportion of history direction candidates in Hunan dropped from 41.34% before the new examination in 2020 to 30.81% in 2025; in Fujian, it dropped from 35.5% to 23.88%.
On June 11, 2023, in Beijing, books for filling out college entrance examination applications.
Seeking new paths
Since the implementation of the “3+1+2” subject selection model, the demand for physics teachers and history teachers has begun to become imbalanced. Wang Wendong described it as a “structural imbalance”: on one end, more class hours for physics teachers and expanded class sizes; on the other end, history teachers have no classes.
History teachers first feel the fluctuations in their income.
In many regions, teacher performance is linked to class hours, evening self-study, and weekend courses. Wei Siyue, a history teacher in a provincial key high school in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang Province, said that since he only teaches a history class for high school physics, his monthly salary is lower by one or two thousand yuan than other teachers.
More difficult to articulate is the “stuck” professional development.
Since graduating in 2020, Wei Siyue has been teaching a history class for high school physics for four years without entering a complete teaching cycle. In the first year of teaching, he would carefully prepare lessons, learn from renowned teachers on video sites, and attend classes by coworkers to familiarize himself with the curriculum and improve his skills.
However, as time passed, he began to feel increasingly frustrated. Few students in history classes listen seriously. Wei Siyue posed questions to the class, often met with silence. Occasionally, when someone answered, the response was incorrect. Later, he learned to question himself, “trying not to leave my words hanging.”
“There’s less need for lesson preparation or exercises.” Wei Siyue told Southern Weekly reporters that this state gradually caused him to lose space for growth and accumulate teaching results, making him often at a disadvantage in evaluations and competitions. “I won’t give up; I want to yield results too.”
In Wang Zhiying’s school, “no classes” not only reduced the workload but also created subtler identity changes. Colleagues joke that they are “drawing a salary but not working,” and during duty periods, someone may sarcastically say, “Let the teachers with no classes handle it.” Wang Zhiying mostly remained silent, without rebutting, “Having no classes makes one feel inferior.”
“I can’t listen to anyone bring it up.” Since she hasn’t had liberal arts classes since 2023, Wang Zhiying has felt lost for a long time. Family members comforted her that not teaching is great and that work is easier. Still, her emotions would quickly flare, and she couldn’t hold back tears. She pessimistically thought that the concept of a career seemed to no longer exist.
History teachers without classes have no choice but to seek new paths. “Trying to explore all avenues,” Wang Zhiying said.
Some “find alternate routes” by becoming liberal arts class directors; others are reassigned to the Youth League Committee, academic affairs office, or dietary department, focusing mostly on administrative tasks, drifting further away from the classroom.
Another history teacher in Xinyang, Henan, Ding Changyi, faced similar choices. Although school leaders recognized her teaching results, they suggested that to continue teaching liberal arts classes, she would need to take on additional student management and administrative duties. She was unwilling to do that.
Wang Zhiying decided to transition into a psychological teaching role. The school has three psychological teachers, and there is indeed a gap. She had obtained a psychological counselor certification during her university days and will start systematically learning psychology courses from the summer of 2025.
In January 2026, the school introduced a policy for job changes for teachers with no classes. Wang Zhiying submitted her application.
However, the costs are also apparent. If she successfully changes jobs, her personnel relations will still remain within the history group. Her professional title assessment is tied to her subject teaching qualifications; she has already reached mid-level professional title in history, but if assessed as a psychology teacher, she’ll have to start from scratch, competing against teachers in her specialized area. For now, she can only take it step by step.
In a bid to escape being chosen, Ding Changyi proactively applied to transition into an English teacher. After transitioning, she got busier, teaching English for two classes, often working from early morning to night, yet felt more fulfilled.
Striking a proper balance between liberal arts and sciences
However, in fact, teacher reallocations are never as simple as “just shifting people.”
In 2025, during research in four counties and cities in Gansu, Wang Wendong found a widespread “structural imbalance” problem among teachers. He learned that a comprehensive high school in Gansu had attempted to move teachers without classes to the junior high department, but teachers were unwilling, and progress stalled.
Wang Wendong explained that this involves multiple factors such as finance, staffing, and teachers’ personal willingness. Therefore, many educational departments have yet to find countermeasures.
In his opinion, resource allocation at the county level faces limitations. For example, if the high schools within the jurisdiction all experience a shortage of physics teachers, there would be no teachers available for transfer. He suggested establishing a city-level comprehensive scheduling mechanism to scientifically distribute resources based on the developmental realities and teaching demands of high schools across counties.
At same time, Wang Wendong added that although the decline in the number of students selecting historical subjects aligns with the current structure of higher education enrollment and future talent cultivation needs, a long-term decline could affect the development of the humanities and social sciences system.
He reminded that schools need to enhance the interpretation of the new college entrance examination to allow students’ subject selection decisions to be based on a comprehensive evaluation of interests, abilities, and developmental pathways. “If the selection is solely driven by the job market, the significance of the new college entrance examination reform may be undermined in practice.”
Looking further down the road, Li Muzhou believes that with the advent of the artificial intelligence era, the importance of humanities and social sciences may be seen anew. He argues for strengthening career planning guidance during high school to help students make rational subject choices; at the institutional level, optimizing college subject selection guidelines can rebalance the selection needs of liberal arts and sciences moderately.
Since the new semester began in March 2026, Wang Zhiying has been busy attending training sessions with the psychological research group, and the notice for staff transitions has yet to be issued, leaving her still uncertain about a smooth transition.
However, the notification for the grade group arrived first. With just over a month left until the history exam, history classes that had been temporarily suspended due to the implementation of the dual-day-off policy were to restart in the physics classes. Wang Zhiying is responsible for the history classes of five physics classes. In face of the tight class schedule, she jokingly calls herself a “highlight machine.”
Returning to the familiar podium, she feels “though tired, the heart is at ease.” But this sense of ease comes from the fact that the schedule temporarily provides her with a position.
History teachers with no classes naturally face impacts on employment as well.
A graduate student in history at a northwest university, Liu Pan, will graduate in June 2026. During the campus recruitment season, she travels to various places including Guangdong, Jiangsu, Tianjin, and Anhui for history teacher recruitment exams, but finds the number of history positions significantly decreasing. For instance, in Jiangsu, out of the 103 positions listed in the recruitment announcement of Nanjing educational bureau in January this year, there were no history posts; during the 2026 “Talent Plan” public recruitment of 301 teachers in Changzhou City, only six were for high school history teachers, the lowest number among all subjects.
Liu Pan has participated in over ten recruitment exams, yet she still hasn’t secured a job, with very few in her class finding placements. “It’s utterly dried up.” She reveals to Southern Weekly reporters, and a month later, she will go again to Jiangsu for the exams.