Protests over university admission quotas highlight challenge in reforming China’s education system

Demonstrations in Jiangsu and Hubei provinces over university admission quotas have exposed deep-rooted challenges in reforming the centralised education system, researchers say.

Hours after thousands of ­parents took to the streets in Nanjing and Wuhan, the Ministry of Education said late on Saturday night that admissions resulting from college entrance exams in all provinces would steadily increase this year.

The statement was aimed at easing parents’ fears that a move to allocate enrolment quotas for non-local students would make it more difficult for their children to find places close to home.

Both the ministry and authorities in Jiangsu and Hubei insisted the quotas were aimed at making tertiary education more equitable and would benefit students from less developed inland provinces.

Zhang Wei, a resident of Wuxi in Jiangsu, said despite the ministry’s reassurances, he remained worried that his son, who takes the college entrance exam next month, might be affected.

Thousands of Chinese parents take to the streets to protest university admission quotas

Zhang did not attend the protest, but supported the demonstrators. “Our dissatisfaction with the unfair college enrolment policies, which always put local students in Jiangsu at a disadvantage, have accumulated for years and the admission quota issue is just the last straw,” he said.