Gao Kao and Social Equality International Conference 20-21 June 2019 China’s Future: Domestic and International Contradictions and Challenges Gao Kao and Social Equality Shan Qin

高考 Gao Kao The National College Entrance Examination An examination held once a year In the last year of senior high school a prerequisite for undergraduate level

Deng Resumed Gao Kao In late 1977, Deng Xiaoping officially resumed the traditional examination (1952) based on academics. This gave Chinese students a chance to receive higher education, again. A potential way to change their fate: climbing up the social ladder. aaabb

The Conflicts within the Field of Education The people’s needs for higher education resources and the limitation of them The people’s needs for the high quality of higher education and the scare of it

High Quality of Higher Education Resources Subordinate Universities 985 and 211 Uneven distribution of advanced educational resources

Subordinate Universities(24/75) Peking Uni. Tsinghua Uni. Beijing Normal Uni. Renmin Uni. Of China China Agricultural Uni. Beijing Foreign Studies Uni. Beijing Languages and Culture Uni. Uni. Of Science and Technology Beijing Beijing Uni. Of Chemical Technology Beijing Jiaotong Uni. Beijing Uni. of Posts and Telecommunications China Uni. Of Geosciences-Beijing China Uni. of Mining and Technology-Beijing China Uni. of Petroleum-Beijing Beijing Forestry Uni. Communication Uni. Of China Central Uni. Of Finance and Economic China Uni. Of Political Science and Law Central Conservatory of Music The Central Academy of Drama China Central Academy of Fine Arts Beijing Uni. Of Chinese Medicine North China Electric Power Uni. Uni. of International Business and Economic

Beijing alone has more 985+211 universities (26) than the 11 provinces/autonomous regions in Western China combined (17). In general, Eastern China has more 985+211 universities than Western China.

The Reality: Regional Inequality The most advanced educational resources/first-ranking universities are concentrated in Beijing, Shanghai and the middle region. Unequal Opportunities: Students from Western China have a much smaller chance to receive good undergraduate education in their hometowns. Studying in another province is not easy, either.

Regional Inequality continued Each university has a fixed admission quota for each province The quota is not evenly distributed The quota greatly intensifies the competition Less opportunity: good enough is not enough Students have to be much better than others to be admitted This makes studying in another region less possible for many students

students taking the exam The number of the students be accepted by Peking University and the number of students taking the exam by province in 2016 province Beijing Tianjin Hebei Shanxi Inner Mongolia Liaoning Jilin Heilongjiang Shanghai Jiangsu Zhejiang Anhui Fujian Jiangxi Shandong Henan Hubei Hunan Guangdong 省市 北京 天津 河北 山西 内蒙 辽宁 吉林 黑龙江 上海 江苏 浙江 安徽 福建 江西 山东 河南 湖北 湖南 广东 Social science 72 18 26 13 19 20 17 12 24 7 46 25 28 Natural science 111 22 15 16 27 21 43 Total 183 38 45 48 37 35 30 40 33 51 39 52 89 53  students taking the exam 61,200 60,000 423,100 339,100 201,100 218,200 148,000 197,000 51,000 360,400 307,400 509,900 175,000 360,600 710,000 820,000 361,400 401,600 733,000 https://www.gotopku.cn/programa/enrolstu/6/2016/2/0.html https://news.koolearn.com/20180606/1152628.html

Students taking the exam (continued) province Guangxi Hainan Chongqing Sichuan Guizhou Yunnan Tibet Shanxi Gansu Qinghai Ningxia Xinjiang 省市 广西 海南 重庆 四川 贵州 云南 西藏 陕西 甘肃 青海 宁夏 新疆 藏班 疆班 Number social 21 8 22 32 24 19 5 27 15 9 11 23 4 Number natural 16 17 31 20 26 10 6 total 37 39 63 44 35 53 30 45  Students taking the exam 330,000 60,400 248,900 571,400 373,800 281,100 24,000 328,000 296,00 0   44,600 69,100 166,100

Different Exam Questions Provincial Independent Proposition: Each province/autonomous regions can come up with their own exam questions for Gao Kao. The difficulty of the exams varies across regions Unfairness: some provinces’ students have to study harder than others Different score requirement: a case in 2016

2016年高考分数线 2016年高考分数线 省市 First-rank social First-rank natural Second-rank social Second-rank natural 北京 583 548 532 494 天津 512 460 424 河北 535 525 416 364 山西 518 519 438 内蒙 477 484 375 辽宁 498 417 313 吉林 531 530 413 402 黑龙江 481 486 401 369 上海 368 360   江苏 355 353 325 315 浙江 603 600 安徽 521 482 473 福建 501 465 403 352 江西 523 529 450 445 山东 537 474 451 河南 517 458 447 湖北 520 350 湖南 476 439 广东 514 508 广西 545 502 400 333 海南 653 602 577 543 重庆 527 435 四川 540 480 453 贵州 551 457 365 云南 560 495 西藏 325/440 285/425 285/355 235/315 陕西 511 470 423 甘肃 504 490 455 435  青海 415 380 宁夏 516 434 新疆 487 464 394 http://gaokao.eol.cn/zhiyuan/fenshuxian/201606/t20160622_1418458.shtml

Takeaways: Three Conflicts The demand vs. the limitation The demand vs. the scare The reform vs. the unexpected consequences