Teachers encourage students as they enter an exam site at No 1 Middle School in Baokang county, Xiangyang, Hubei province, on July 7, 2020. YANG TAO/XINHUA

The national college entrance examination, or gaokao, will be held on June 7 and 8 this year, the usual time slot for one of the most important exams for Chinese students, the Ministry of Education said on Friday.

The gaokaowas postponed for a month to July 7 and 8 last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 10.7 million students signed up to participate in last year's gaokao, up by 400,000 from 2019, according to the ministry.

Local education authorities and schools should strictly follow epidemic prevention and control measures and make detailed plans for the exam to ensure the safety of test takers and monitors, the ministry in a notice.

Each test center should be equipped with isolation test rooms and enough epidemic control and prevention materials, while test takers and monitors should undergo daily health monitoring and temperature checks, the notice said.

Chinese people often compare the highly competitive gaokaoto "crossing a narrow bridge", because for many students, especially rural students, enrollment at a good university would increase the prospects of landing a good job and thus shape their future.