Underprivileged student quota at top schools has improved access to education
Students from rural areas walk into Nantong Middle School, East China’s Jiangsu Province on June 6, 2015, to sit Tsinghua University’s 2016 independent recruitment program which is for rural candidates. Those who pass the program receive bonus points on the college entrance exam. Photo: IC
Wang Tian, an 18-year-old girl from one of the most underdeveloped counties in Northwest China’s Qinghai Province, never anticipated studying law at the prestigious Peking University.
The stunning twist in her life is largely thanks to a national program to provide poor rural students with the chance to access top universities.
With vast disparities in teaching standards among different regions, high school graduates from underdeveloped areas have very little chance of making it into the best universities.
A sweeping reworking of the higher education system has worked to change this and students from underdeveloped areas now compete on a more equal footing with those from more affluent parts of the country.
Enrollment quotas have increased the recruitment of students from central, western and remote rural areas.