A national political adviser has said he would propose to exclude ideological and political theory from the compulsory entrance exams for postgraduate students, people.cn reported on Friday.

Zhou Zhonghe, an academic of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said earlier this week that he would deliver such a proposal during the ongoing annual meetings of the nation's top legislature and political advisory body.

"I think it has become improper to make the subject one of the entrance exams for postgraduate students," he said, adding that after restoring the Gaokao system for more than 30 years, the inclusion of ideological and political theory in the exam is outdated.

Instead, he suggested replacing the exam with a test of basic competence, a move that mirrors the admissions process in developed countries.

To prepare for the exam on ideological and political theory, students have to learn Marxist theory, Mao Zedong Thought and the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics,  the modern history of China, moral culture,fundamentals of law, and worldpolitics and economics.

But Zhou said students good at rote learning can usually get high marks on the subject and that does not mean they have the real capability or meet the requested political and ideological level.

So, the academic suggested that postgraduate schools rely more on the recommendations of college teachers, and make the judgment during interviews on the students' ideological and political leanings.

The weak innovation and creativity in the country's sciences is "more or less related to" the defective education system, he said.

"Under the current system, students put more energy into absorbing knowledge, copying and tracking, but lack independent thinking."