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AsasophomoremajoringinEnglishattheDepartmentofForeignLanguagesandLiteratureatTsinghuaUniversity,ZhaoJunhaslearnedthetruemeaningof“spiritualsolitude”overthepastyear.
“AlthoughIwouldcallmyselfoutgoingandsociable,IfindIjustdon’thavemuchincommonwithmyclassmates,”saidthe21-year-oldstudentwithanairofdissatisfaction.
WhatsetsZhaoapartfromhisclassmatesisthefactthatheisfromasmallvillageincentralChina’sHenanProvince,whilemostofhisclassmatesareallfrommajorcities.
“Theyhavetotallydifferentlifeandeducationalexperiences,soIalwaysfeelsomewhatisolated,whichcanbedemoralizing,”Zhaosaid.
Onlyfiveoutofthe36studentsinZhou’sclasscamefromruralareas.
ThisisreflectiveofabroadertrendwithruralstudentsbeingmassivelyunderrepresentedinChina’suniversities.Whiletheyhavealwaysstruggledtosecureplacesattopuniversities,inrecentyearsthesituationforruralstudentshasactuallydeteriorated.TheproportionofruralstudentsatTsinghuaUniversity,whichranked35thonTheTimesHigherEducationmagazine’slistofworld’stop100universitiesin2011,hasdroppedtoahistoricallowpoint.AccordingtoastudyconductedbyYangDongping,aprofessorattheBeijingInstituteofTechnology,only17percentoffreshmenatTsinghuaUniversityin2010camefromruralareas,eventhoughtheycomprised62percentofthoseregisteredtotakethenationalcollegeentranceexamina-tionthatyear.
Thisyear,lessthan15percentoftheuniversity’s3,349newlyenrolledstudentshadtheireducationinruralschools,accordingtotheAdmissionsOfficeofTsinghuaUniversity.
AccordingtoJinJun,alecturerattheSchoolofHumanitiesandSocialScienceofTsinghuaUniversity,atypicalstudentatTsinghuaUniversityhailsfromacity,hasparentswhoareteachersorgovernmentemployees,andtravelsoverseaswithhisorherparentsatleastonceayear.
ThesituationatTsinghuaiscomparabletothatatChina’sothermajoruniversities.TheratioofruralstudentsatPekingUniversity,whichwasrated43rdonTheTimesHigherEducationmagazine’slist,hasdroppedtoaround10percentoverthelastdecadefrommorethan30percentbetween1978and1998,accordingtoastudybyLiuYunshan,VicePresidentoftheuniversity’sGraduateSchoolofEducation.
EvenatChinaAgriculturalUniversity,whichhastraditionallyhadahighpercentageofruralstudents,fewerthan30percentofstudentsarenowfromruralareas.
“Thedecreaseisalarmingastheproportionofruralstudentsinleadinguniversitieshasdroppedtobelow20percent,”saidXiongBingqi,DeputyDirectorofthe21stCenturyEducationResearchInstitute,aprivatenonprofiteducationpolicyresearchbody.
Forcenturies,Chinesepeoplehavebelievedthat“knowledgecanchangefate.”Abettereducationhasbeenseenasthekeytoabrighterfutureandchildreninruralareas,particularlyremoteareas,struggletogetintocollegeinordertoimprovetheirprospectsandthelivelihoodsoftheirfamilies.
“Gettingadmittedtoagooduniversityinamajorcityrepresentsnotonlyapersonalachievementforruralstudents,butalsoamajorchangefortheirfamilies,”saidXiong.“Itisthemostdirectandeffectivewayforthem,sometimeseventheonlyway,toshakeoffpoverty.”
Forseveraldecades,ruralstudentswereakeypartoftheintakeofmajoruniversities.Theywereviewedbyprofessorsandadmissionsstaffasmorefocusedandhardworkingcomparedtotheirurbancounterparts.
Buttodaythisavenueofsocialadvancementisindangerofbeingsealedoff.
“It’sbecomeevenharderforusruralstudentstogetintotopuniversities,”Zhaosaid,addingthathewasluckytobeanexceptiontotherule.
Recentlyateacherwith15yearsofteachingexperiencepostedanarticleonlinesayingthatyoungpeoplefrompoorruralfamiliesareboundtostruggletoreachthetopofsocietyastheyeffectivelystarttheirlivesaslosers.Thepostsparkedanewroundofdiscussionanddebateontheinequalityofeducationandtheunevendistributionofsocialresources.
Unequalresources
ZhouXufeng,DirectoroftheAdmissionsOfficeofChinaAgriculturalUniversity,suggeststhehukou（registeredpermanentresidence）systemisresponsiblefortheimbalancedintake.
“Thesearchforbetterschoolsdrivesmanyruralresidentsintocitiesandchangestheirhukoustatus.Studentsoriginallyfromruralareasnowholdurbanhukou,”Zhousaid.
Thereforethedeclinemaynotmeanthatfewerstudentswithruraloriginsareenteringuniversitiesbutratherreflectsthefactthatbrightruralstudentsoftenholdurbanhukoubythetimetheyenrollinuniversities.
“IntermsofChinaAgriculturalUniversity,anotherproblemisthatstudentsfromruralareasarereluctanttotakejobsrelatedtoagriculture,formanyofthem,collegeisawaytogetoutoftheruralareas,”Zhousaid.
However,Xiongattributesthedecreaseofruralstudentsatleadinguniversitiestotheunequaldistributionofeducationalresources.
“Educationalequalityisthefoundationforprovidingopportunitiesforruralchildreninunderdevelopedareas.Equalitymeansanequalstartingline,anequalprocessandfundamentallyafairchancetosucceed,”hesaid.
Accordingtoofficialstatistics,lessthan40percentofruralchildrenarereceivingapreschooleducation.
Meanwhile,thereexistsanotherdauntingchallenge.Fordecadeseducationalresourceshavebeenunfairlyallocatedbetweenurbanandruralareas.
“Urbanareashavebetterteachersandresources.Schoolsinruralareas,ontheotherhand,arefraughtwiththeoutflowoftalent,andashortageofteachersandresources,”Xiongsaid.
A2009surveyofstudentsandteachersinsixcountiesinunderdevelopednorthwesternGansuandGuizhouprovincesandNingxiaHuiAutonomousRegionshowedthatpoorlivingandteachingconditionsresultinadearthofqualityteachersandgoodstudents.Talentedteachersandstudentstrytheirbesttoreachcountyorevenhigherlevelschoolswhereconditionsaremuchbetter.
“Someruralteachersaresimplynotqualifiedastheyreceivedcollegedegreesfromcontinuing-educationprograms,whichdonotreallyprovideagoodeducation,”Xiongsaid.
Tocorrectthis,theMinistryofEducationhaslaunchedaseriesofspecialrecruitmentplanstoattractqualifiedteacherstoruralareas.
Oneofthegovernment’smajorinitiativeshasplacedmorethan180,000teachersin18,000ruralschoolsaroundthecountrysince2006.TeachersinvolvedintheprogramforthreeyearswillbeabletostudyforaMaster’sDegreeinEducationwithouthavingtotakeanentranceexam.
Butmanyoftheseteachersadmittheywillstillleavethecountrysideaftertheirthree-yeartermends.Ayawninggapwillremainbetweenthenumberofqualityteachersinruralandurbanareas.
“Withonlyahandfulofableteachersintheprovincesitisalmostimpossibleforstudentsinvillagestocompetewiththeirurbancounterparts,”Xiongsaid.
ThefactthatthemajorityofChina’smostprestigiousuniversitiesarelocatedinbigcitieslikeBeijingandShanghaiisanotheradvantageforurbanstudents.Someschoolsnowhavepoliciesfavoringstudentsfromtheirowncities,inordertosupportthelocalgovernmentandeconomy.
Aslewofpolicies,includinglowerentrancescoresandbonusscoresforspecialtalentinartsorsports,haveaddedtothediscriminationfacedbyruralstudents,whohavelittleornoaccesstoextra-curricularactivities.
Schoolsinbigcitiesontheotherhandhaveaccesstothebestteachersandfacilities.Studentsattheseschoolscanchoosefromarangeofsubjectsandstandamuchbetterchanceofbeingadmittedtoprestigiousuniversities.
Weakcompetitiveness
Despitecriticismofits“scores-forschool”system,whichleadstotoughcompetitionamongstudents,thenationalcollegeentranceexaminationisstillconsideredthefairestwaytodetermineastudent’sfate.Regardlessofwealthandsocialstatus,everystudentmusttakethesameexamination,afactthatinthepastledtoahighpercentageofruralstudentsgettingadmittedtohigh-qualityuniversities.
“However,recentreformstotheexamhavealteredthebalance.Undernewbroadercriteria,hardworkingruralstudentsfindthemselvesatadisadvantage,”Xiongsaid.
Somepoliciesaimedatbroadeningaccesstohighereducationhaveinfactmadeitmoredifficultforruralstudentstogainentrytoleadinguniversities.In2003reformswereintroducedtoallowstudentswithmoreroundedprofiles,notsimplyoutstandingperformersinexams,toenteruniversities.TheMinistryofEducationpermitted22keyuniversitiestousetheirowncriteriatoindependentlyselect5percentoftheirstudentsfromhighschoolsaroundthecountry.
Theindependentcriteriafocusmoreonstudents’creativity,imaginationandlearningskills.Studentswhoareparticularlytalentedinart,sportandliteraturecannowenterthesekeyuniversitiesdespitetheirlowertestscores.Forexample,ZhangTianci,atalentedviolinistfromJinzhou,acityinnortheastChina’sLiaoningProvince,earned60privilegepointstogainentrytoTsinghuaUniversitylastyear.
Manyexpertsseethisprogramasawaytobreakdownthecountry’sexam-orientededucationsystem.Theybelieveittobeconducivetobetterunderstandingwherestudents’talentslie.Therearenow80universitiesinvolvedintheprogram.
Theshiftawayfromapurelyexambasedselectionprocess,howe
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