Fewer college places for locals in 14 provinces spark protests by parents and students
Admission to China’s higher education leads to fierce competition. Educational authorities boost the number of places for students from the country’s less developed central and western regions. Protesters complain in front of government buildings against the decision’s timing, absurd and stressful coming less than a month before entrance exams.
Beijing (AsiaNews) – The Chinese government has announced plans to curtail university admission quotas in some provinces in order to make room for students from less developed areas.
The decision has sparked mass protests in Hubei and Jiangsu, the provinces most affected by the measure. Parents clashed with the police, worried that this would result in less opportunities for their children.
For the government, the measure is necessary to boost the educational development of the disadvantaged areas.
The Ministry of Education made the announcement last month. The Reform Commission announced that 210,000 students from central and western China would register in 14 provinces and municipalities with more educational resources.
This reduces the number of places for local students. Jiangsu will have to accommodate 38,000 outside students; for Hubei, the number is 40,000.
Parents note that that the new policy would intensify competition in college entrance examination. The authorities rejected the argument, which prompted thousands of people to take to the streets.
Last week, about 5,000 people took to the streets of Wuhan, Hubei's provincial capital. Demonstrators did the same in several other cities in Jiangsu. In Nanjing, police clashed with protesters and arrested several of them.
Parents have also complained about the decision’s timing, only a month before the national college entrance exam.
In China, students must go through this process to get into university. Like the country’s welfare system, China’s post-secondary education favours locals over outsiders.
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