China Students' Admission

Nonresident parents in Beijing have been signing a petition to fight a policy that will continue to limit their children's eligibility to take the national college entrance exam in the city. Twenty-six of them jointly submitted a formal request for an administrative review to the Ministry of Education on Jan 11.

This came after the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education issued what it called a "transitional" policy on Dec 30, under which nonresident children cannot take the college entrance exam in the city within the next two years.

"I was angry and heartbroken," said Meng Fanling, a nonresident mother and parent volunteer in Beijing. "Our efforts and fighting for all these years have turned into nothing."

For the past three decades in China, high school graduates could only take the national college entrance exam, known as gaokao, in their home provinces, where their household registration, or hukou, were issued. But one in six Chinese citizens no longer lives where their hukou is registered, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics for 2011.

Having to return to one's home province to be eligible to take the exam has been a huge burden for hundreds of thousands of families.

While nonresident parents were disappointed in Beijing's Dec 30 policy, on the other hand, Liu Yang, a native Beijinger, has been rallying opposition to these parents. His blog and micro blog have tens of thousands of followers.

"I feel sorry for the migrant families, but it is not simply an issue about education," Liu said. "It's a matter of the city's population capacity. It just cannot take in more migrants and give them equal rights."

Nonresidents' appeal

In August last year, the State Council's General Office published a directive requesting provincial governments to make policies addressing the issue before the end of 2012.

Liang Shuangcai, a nonresident father, has been visiting the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education's Office of Complaints and Appeal every Thursday morning since the directive came out.

Liang moved to Beijing 12 years ago from Henan province. He works as an auditor, and has an 11-year-old son who grew up in the capital. "We will be facing the problem very soon," he said.

The Beijing policy published on Dec 30 only allows nonresident children to take the entrance exam for secondary vocational schools, starting from 2013, and higher vocational schools, in 2014.

Du Guowang cannot wait. His son is supposed to take the exam in June, and the boy may have missed his chance to do so.

In late October, Du and other parents asked the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education whether their children can take the 2013 exam in the capital.

Du said they received a letter from the commission on Nov 14, which said it is still waiting for information from the Ministry of Education, and parents should keep tracking information updates online.

While awaiting a final decision, Du tried to register his son's name on the website of the Beijing Education Examinations Authority on Dec 2. He said he successfully registered and paid the registration fee online after receiving an electronic confirmation.

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