Debate over gaokao policy heats up (6)

Hukou problem

China had a migrant population of 221 million in October 2010, according to the National Population and Family Planning Commission, equal to two-thirds of people in the United States.

The sixth National Census found that roughly 7 million of them live in Beijing, accounting for more than 35 percent of all residents, while estimates by China Central Television in 2011 put the number of non-hukou children in the capital's primary and junior high schools at 478,000.

Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, said the argument over the gaokao rules is a result of China's discriminatory hukou system. However, as a quick fix to achieve education equality, he suggested more power should be given to colleges.

"If universities had the right to recruit qualified students, they could pick up good students no matter where they come from," he said, although he conceded that it might take three to five years to build such a system.

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