Xizang allowing kids of outsiders to take gaokao

The Xizang autonomous regional government has announced that it will allow the children of businesspeople from outside the area who have invested more than 3 million yuan ($417,000) in the region to take the national college entrance exam, or gaokao, in Xizang.

According to a notice issued by Xizang's education department and investment promotion bureau, the businesspeople must maintain their investments in the region for at least five years.

Their enterprises should be registered in Xizang for at least three years, pay taxes in the region and employ more than five people every year, the notice said.

Eligible students must have had permanent residency in Xizang for more than three years and have attended a high school in the region for at least one year, the notice added.

The standardized nationwide test, the gaokao is one of the most important exams for Chinese students and is widely viewed as the key to social mobility and determinative of a student's future prospects.

The importance of gaokao has led to a widely recognized phenomenon of gaokao migrants, where students register to take the exam in a provincial region other than their own to boost their chances of being admitted to a top university.

Enrollment in gaokao is based on students' rankings in the provincial region, not nationally.

In this case, the students' chances of being enrolled in top universities when they take the gaokao in Xizang, a sparsely populated region, are much higher than those living in more densely populated regions. There has been news of students faking their household registration documents to take the exam in regions like Xizang.

Xiong Bingqi, director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said the new policy has lowered the requirement for students from other regions to take the gaokao in Xizang, as previously they had to study in the region's high schools for three years to be eligible to sit the gaokao there.

Many people have worried that the policy will favor rich people and lead to education inequality, but actually, the strict requirements of the policy mean only those who are really committed to long-term investment in the region can enjoy it, he said.

The key is to crack down on any people or organization faking documents and close any loopholes, he said.

Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences, said local governments should be more prudent in making changes to their gaokao policies, as the exam is hugely important for millions of students and parents.