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The education authority of Anhui Province in E. China announced it would
cancel the extra points for ethnic minorities in college entrance
examinations, known as gaokao, from 2022. Experts and netizens welcomed the move, saying it will boost educational equality and national unity. Under
the guidelines of the Ministry of Education, and five other ministries,
Anhui's provincial education authority said on Friday that it had
decided to cancel extra points in the gaokao for ethnic
minority examinees in areas where ethnic minorities live in compact
communities, adding that overseas Chinese and their dependents, Hong
Kong, Macao people and their dependants will also no longer enjoy the
special policy.
The authority explained that in 2020 and 2021, gaokao
candidates who meet the criteria of the policy are still eligible for
an additional five points, which is only applicable to the enrollment of
colleges and universities in Anhui Province.
Observers said
that over 40 years after the reform and opening-up in 1978, many ethnic
minority areas have shaken off their economic and educational
underdevelopment, so the adjustment of the policy is necessary.
Chu
Zhaohui, a research fellow at the National Institute of Education
Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday that some people in ethnic
minority communities speak their own language, so it is necessary for
them to have bonus points. However, in Anhui and some other provinces in
East China, ethnic minorities have mixed with the Han people, and the
social, economic and cultural conditions are basically the same. As a
result, extra points for ethnic minorities creates a kind of injustice.
Anhui
has no autonomous counties for ethnic minorities. Therefore, Anhui's
decision is very likely to cancel the policy in the whole province,
which is conducive to promoting gaokao equality, Chu said.
There
are other regions in China that have applied new regulations regarding
extra points for ethnic minorities in college entrance examinations. In
2016, Shandong Province in East China announced it would cancel extra
points for ethnic minorities in mountainous areas and ethnic minority
areas in 2017. The number of ethnic minority students who enjoyed the
gaokao bonus points in Beijing has plummeted from over 6,000 to only
four students in 2017, media reports said.
Anhui's cancelation
of the bonus points became a hot topic on social media on Monday, with
many internet users expressing support.
"Unfairness and
inequality are the major causes of discrimination and antagonism, and
Anhui's move could really help unite people from different backgrounds
in the nation," an internet user said on Weibo, and the comment received
a lot of likes. "Everyone should be equal in the gaokao. I hope it (Anhui's move) will be promoted nationwide," said another.
For
provincial-level regions like Anhui, in which most of the ethnic
minorities and the Han people live together, and the ethnic minority
areas are only scattered in the areas below the county level,
cancelation of gaokao bonus points for ethnic minorities might be a
feasible option, said Chu.
From 1950 to 1978, China adopted the policy of preferential admission for ethnic minority students in the gaokao,
and after 1978, it mainly implemented the policy of bonus points. Most
of China's border areas, mountainous areas, rural areas and areas where
ethnic minorities live in compact communities still have preferential
policies for ethnic minority examinees to have bonus points in the gaokao.
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