The intent was to make the educational experience in junior high school healthier, by eliminating the all-consuming fixation on the joint exam. In August 1990, a trial run of this program began in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Kinmen. First-year junior high students could choose for themselves whether to participate.
八月就開始在北高兩市和金門縣局部試辦，三縣市的國中一年級學生可以自由決定是否參加，選擇參加者就不能再參加聯考，而改用在校成績分發入學。