China's problems with affirmative action, recruiting low income and geographically diverse kids

[Canuckguy]

The Ministry of Education introduced this in 2003 to reward people with “special talents” that are tricky to assess through standardised tests, such as innovative thinking, creativity, or skills in sport or art.

Two names come to mind immediately from the Chinese sports world: diver Fu Mingxia and table tennis player Deng Yaping. They were both accepted to Tsinghua after retirement from the national team. It is important to note that both are among the very greatest in their respective sports; it is not a backdoor for 2nd tier athletes from well-off families.

Interestingly, during the heyday of the Imperial Chinese Civil Service Examination system, the 3 provinces with the most examinees who succeeded in passing all 3 main levels of the examinations(locality, provincial, and national levels) consistently with high scores were Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu. Seems like some of this carries over to the present day and probably accounts for set-asides for Beijing/Shanghai area residents

That was the point I was trying to get at. Those parents are not afraid of minorities like the Tibetans, Uyghur, or even the poor farmers taking seats from their children; they fear the academic powerhouses from places like Zhejiang, Guangdong and the like.

But Mr Shi is still worried that gaokao reform will end up benefiting the elite. He says test-based admission criteria may not be perfect, but at least they provide more of a level playing-field to allow clever children from poor areas—such as himself—a chance of success. It is “the fairest system” for China at the moment, he says.

It is the fairest system, period.