Crusade against gaokao unfairness speeds up

Guangdong Province has announced that from 2016, students whose housing registration, or hukou is not from the province but who meet certain requirements can sit the college entrance exams, or gaokao there. This decision will surely put pressure on Beijing and Shanghai. The two cities, which have the greatest number of famous universities, have no reason to forbid migrant students from attending the exams forever.

Both Beijing and Shanghai published plans for where non-local students should sit the gaokao yesterday. Although they haven't eased restrictions on them, it's only a matter of time till the two cities compromise.

Beijing and Shanghai have the best higher education resources. The universities make the two cities attractive; but at the same time, these universities have gained their reputation because they are located in these two cities.

Key universities in Beijing and Shanghai enroll students nationwide. Meanwhile, their locations determine that they have to make policies favorable to locals. They have to balance the two.

In the past, these universities have tilted too much toward local students, which has aroused public criticism. In recent years, these universities have enrolled more students from other places, especially those schools in Beijing. However, such reforms still do not meet the expectations of non-local students and their parents.

Non-local students come to Beijing and Shanghai with their parents from all over China. They have become part of local communities. It's reasonable that they take the gaokao where they live and this is supported by the public.

However, this means that Beijing and Shanghai students who have a local hukou have to share the educational resources with those from outside. Locals are not prepared for such a change, which is a major blow to their privileged position in the cities.

Allowing non-local hukou holders to take the gaokao in the place where they live, rather than where they were born, is bound to happen eventually. The number of migrant workers in Beijing and Shanghai is increasing, and the calls for educational fairness are also growing. Forbidding migrant students from taking the gaokao locally can only worsen problems, which is no good for the two cities' development and social harmony in the long run. At the same time, such reforms should be carried out gradually so as to ease the pressure on local families. If their feelings are neglected, it will hinder the smooth implementation of the reforms.

Besides, reformers should carefully consider whether such reforms will lead to a new wave of migration to Beijing and Shanghai, whether it will result in a lack of resources and whether housing prices will rise accordingly.

The fundamental reason for the attractiveness of Beijing and Shanghai is China's unbalanced development. We should both make the resources that the two cities boast open to all places and speed up the development of cities that could have the same attractiveness as Beijing and Shanghai.

Any reforms of the exam system should be aimed at reducing social conflicts rather than creating confrontations. The public will be directly affected by the reform. To ensure interests transfer smoothly from one group to another, we must seek the best way for fairness and balance.