College loophole lets parents buy places
Source: Xinhua |
July 24, 2013, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AS Chinese colleges begin sending out letters of admission, some parents can't wait to make a deal - like offering a million yuan (US$162,000) for a place for their child.
If a child has failed to perform well in June's national college entrance exam and their scores have not met the college's standards, money is another option.
Though "money for entrance" is prohibited by China's educational authorities, it still happens.
An Internet search reveals many websites offering advice to parents on how to buy their child's way into major colleges.
Prices vary, an agent calling himself Chen told a reporter who had asked the price of a college place.
Mentioning a major college in Nanjing, in east China's Jiangsu Province, the reporter was quoted a million yuan.
Chen promised a full refund if the student was not enrolled.
The price was confirmed by a member of staff at a college, who refused to be named.
"The price was about 200 or 300 thousand yuan last year, but it has surged to at least 1 million yuan as the available quota has been cut to one fifth of last year's," he told the reporter.
In China, colleges must recruit most students openly according to their exam scores.
They are also allowed to recruit a small percentage of students - it used to be five percent - who do not qualify in terms of their scores but are "excellent" in other fields such as art or sport.
"However, in actual implementation, the quota for the plans are often goods traded between the rich and the powerful and a 'cake' shared by a small group with prestige," said Yin Fei, associate professor with the School of Education Science under Nanjing Normal University.
It is just a "small percentage" that breeds corruption in education, said Yin.
Rich parents are taking bags of cash when visiting colleges so their child can get in, an unnamed parent in Shandong Province told reporters.
Another unnamed college staff member in Shandong Province revealed that his college earns more than 10 million yuan a year by selling entrance places.
According to a circular issued in May by the Ministry of Education, colleges were to reduce the 5 percent quota to just 1 percent.
The ministry also said students who had gained their places through cash changing hands would not get registered.
If a child has failed to perform well in June's national college entrance exam and their scores have not met the college's standards, money is another option.
Though "money for entrance" is prohibited by China's educational authorities, it still happens.
An Internet search reveals many websites offering advice to parents on how to buy their child's way into major colleges.
Prices vary, an agent calling himself Chen told a reporter who had asked the price of a college place.
Mentioning a major college in Nanjing, in east China's Jiangsu Province, the reporter was quoted a million yuan.
Chen promised a full refund if the student was not enrolled.
The price was confirmed by a member of staff at a college, who refused to be named.
"The price was about 200 or 300 thousand yuan last year, but it has surged to at least 1 million yuan as the available quota has been cut to one fifth of last year's," he told the reporter.
In China, colleges must recruit most students openly according to their exam scores.
They are also allowed to recruit a small percentage of students - it used to be five percent - who do not qualify in terms of their scores but are "excellent" in other fields such as art or sport.
"However, in actual implementation, the quota for the plans are often goods traded between the rich and the powerful and a 'cake' shared by a small group with prestige," said Yin Fei, associate professor with the School of Education Science under Nanjing Normal University.
It is just a "small percentage" that breeds corruption in education, said Yin.
Rich parents are taking bags of cash when visiting colleges so their child can get in, an unnamed parent in Shandong Province told reporters.
Another unnamed college staff member in Shandong Province revealed that his college earns more than 10 million yuan a year by selling entrance places.
According to a circular issued in May by the Ministry of Education, colleges were to reduce the 5 percent quota to just 1 percent.
The ministry also said students who had gained their places through cash changing hands would not get registered.
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