BEIJING, June 6 (Xinhua) -- Migrant students taking Saturday's college entrance exam locally will increase 12-fold from last year because a birthplace-specific examination policy has been fully eased.
Chinese citizens' access to pension, medical insurance and education are largely restricted to the regions where their household registrations are officially recorded -- in most cases, their birthplaces.
Although the government no longer ties migrant children's compulsory education to their native regions, the restriction on the college entrance exam was not eased until 2012. Many rural families who migrated to cities for better jobs complained because it was inconvenient for their children to go back for the crucial exam, known as the gaokao.
This year, some 56,000 students will take the test locally, an increase from 4,440 in 2013 -- the first year after the ban was lifted, the Ministry of Education said in a statement Friday.
The statement said last year's lackluster reaction to the policy was down to it not being released in a timely manner and complicated application procedures.
In 2013, 12 provinces and municipalities held examinations for migrant students. This year, the coverage has expanded to 28 provincial-level regions.
With a vast population and grim employment prospects, China's college entrance exam is seen as a make-or-break competition and offers the chance to attend one of the country's prestigious universities.
UNRESTRICTED ACCESS
Despite the general policy ease, local governments have been given a free hand to draft their own specific measures for migrant students.
While requirements in most cities are minimal - local high school study experiences and steady jobs for their parents - in bigger cities, things can be harsh.
With its high threshold for residential entry, Shanghai demands that the would-be examinees graduate from local high schools and both parents hold residence certificates for at least three consecutive years if the students want to take the gaokao in the city.
A Shanghai school principal told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that the 2,000 migrant students currently studying at the school are mostly the offspring of "grassroots" rural migrant workers and those eligible to take the exam locally would be as rare as "phoenix feathers and unicorn horns".
Beijing stipulates that migrant parents have to pay their share of social insurance for at least six years and their children study in local high schools for three consecutive years. Even then, qualified examinees can only apply for vocational colleges.
"Loosening birthplace restrictions is a general trend, but we must balance migrant families' demands against a city's capacity and its limited educational resources," said Jin Zhongming, professor with Shanghai's East China Normal University.
Localizing the gaokao for migrant students was first raised in 2008. On one hand, migrant families want educational rights; on the other, native families fear outsiders exploiting their children's study opportunities.
Zhang Tao, vice principal of a high school in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, said the high thresholds set by big cities are reasonable.
"Loose policies will result in more migrants, posing huge challenges for social management in education, health, employment, environment and other aspects," Zhang said.
Meanwhile, Jin called on the government to coordinate the distribution of interests and solve disputes so as to guide the people to jointly and calmly accelerate reform.
China has now 260 million migrants in cities. In Beijing and Shanghai, more than 40 percent of students in primary and middle schools are non-natives.
Li Xiaoming, professor with Northeast Normal University, hinted that offering access to vocational college could be a first step for big cities to guarantee a better education for migrant students.
"Vocational schools will enable children of migrant workers to learn a certain craft or technique that they can use to have a steady life in the cities. From there, universities will gradually open up," Li said.
Experts have been urging local governments to finetune their policies while calling on authorities to consider unified gaokao application standards.
"If they can, everyone leaving their hometown wants to take their children with them and see them growing up," said Zhu Xueqin, a deputy to the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, and also a migrant worker from a rural area.
"Taking the gaokao locally will bring more families hopes and courage. It's the direction social justice should be headed," she added.