The End of Separate but Equal Policy? The Policy of a National College Entrance Examination for Migrant Students

• In Event: College Access Policy on the Disadvantaged in China: Perspectives of Different Groups

Abstract

LIU Baocun
Professor, Institute of International and Comparative Education (IICE),
Beijing Normal University, CHINA

1. Objectives
China has been undergoing the process of urbanization and millions of rural inhabitants swarm into cities. But due to the residence registration system, the children of the rural migrant workers in cities are deprived of their rights to take part in the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) in the cities they live and forced to go back to the rural area to take such examination. In 2013, many local governments publicized new policies to allow the migrant students to take their examination in their cities, but with some limitations and exceptions. In this research, we focus on the new NCEE policy for migrant students, analyze the changes of the policy and its effect.

2. Theoretical Framework
The NCEE policy for migrant students is mainly concerned with equity in education. In this research, the theories of educational equity of Torsten Husen, Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis will be utilized to analyze the importance of equity of higher education access policy and the influence of higher education participation over the future socioeconomic status of the migrant students.

3. Methods
With the methodology of policy analysis, the research will analyze the new NCEE policies for migrant students from comparative and international perspectives.

4. Data Sources
The data used in this research for policy document review primarily comes from the official documents of central and local governments. The statistics of migrant students and migrant students taking part in NCEE in 2013 comes from national survey and local government report respectively.

5. Results
This study mainly analyzes the new NCEE policies for migrant students and their effects. Though most of the provinces adopted new policies to promote equity in higher education access, there are still several provinces that haven’t started the process to develop a new policy. In the provinces that have adopted new policies, they set up many limitations in qualification, ways and schedules, and 10% of the migrant students participated NCEE in 2013 according to the new policy.

6. Significance of the Study
The NCEE policy for migrant students is not only an issue of education, but also an issue of social management. It is deeply rooted in the residence registration system, province-based quota system of college student recruitment and unbalanced distribution of higher education resources. The research will contribute to better understanding the inequity fact in Chinese higher education access policy and its social and economic contexts. As equity in education is an important factor and means to promote social justice and social equity, the research appeals to abolish current residence registration system and the province-based quota system of college student recruitment. The research also suggests to recruit colleges students according to their academic excellence rather than their residence registration places, balancing the benefits of the native and migrant applicants. As China is a centralized country, a more specific national policy is strongly recommended.

Author

• Baocun Liu, Beijing Normal University