Officials who enabled exploitation of exam policy must be punished

Technicians use portable radio scan equipment to monitor radio signals outside the college entrance examination rooms in Xuchang, Henan province, on Sunday. Tough anti-cheating methods have been put in place to provide a fair field to all students. [Photo/IC]

The education authorities in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region received reports in the run-up to the national college entrance exam that hundreds of high school graduates in neighboring Hebei province, mostly children of Party and governmental officials, were taking the exam in the region under assumed identities in order to enjoy the favorable policies extended to the autonomous regions. Comments:

China boasts a strict hukou (residence registration) system, yet corruption enables people to get false identities. In this instance, the officials that bent the law and hurt social justice were the parents of the students. The government department in charge of managing the hukou has no excuse and a probe is needed to find out who is responsible.

Beijing News, June 9

How many of the hundreds of illegal applicants have privileged family backgrounds? How many officials were involved in the dirty deals, and who are they? Inner Mongolia has done a good move by rejecting the illegal applicants, and now it is Hebei's turn to probe the incident and hold the responsible officials accountable for their illegal deeds.

Procuratorial Daily, June 9

It is common sense that falsifying identities is illegal, but why do people choose to break the law for their children to attend the national college entrance exam in Inner Mongolia? Because distribution of higher education resources is far from being fair and those in certain provinces have only a minor chance of entering good colleges compared with their peers. Only a fairer distribution of higher education resources can solve the problem.

Southern Metropolis Daily, June 9

The favorable policies for Inner Mongolia and similar regions are meant to promote social justice and grant the poor and members of minority ethnic groups a better chance of receiving higher education; yet the Party and governmental officials from Hebei province would have robbed these vulnerable groups of their due. This is a serious violation of social justice and it damages public confidence in the government.

xinmin.cn, June 9