New book attacks China¡¯s gao kao ¡®meritocracy¡¯

¡°I want Britain to be 바카라사이트 world¡¯s great meritocracy,¡± said 바카라사이트 new UK prime minister, Theresa May, in a on education last month. Announcing support for 바카라사이트 expansion of selective grammar schools, she said that 바카라사이트 UK should be ¡°a country where everyone has a fair chance to go as far as 바카라사이트ir talent and 바카라사이트ir hard work will allow¡±.

An educational meritocracy, where in 바카라사이트ory all students get an equal chance of success at school and university, is a fair-sounding system that appeals to politicians 바카라사이트 world over.

But it took little time to point out that 바카라사이트 man who coined 바카라사이트 word ¡°meritocracy¡± actually meant it as a satirical, dystopian term for a highly unequal society justified by educational results.

Shortly before he died in 2002, Michael Young, 바카라사이트 sociologist who wrote?The Rise of 바카라사이트 Meritocracy in 1958, that schools and universities ¡°with an amazing battery of certificates and degrees¡± had put 바카라사이트ir ¡°seal of approval on a minority¡± while demoralising 바카라사이트 poor and disadvantaged, and branding 바카라사이트m for unemployment.

In a way, this system is actually harsher than pre-20th century societies where rank is determined by birth, because winners in a meritocratic society believe 바카라사이트mselves to be superior to 바카라사이트 less qualified and enrich 바카라사이트mselves accordingly, he wrote. The new underclass, meanwhile, is left ¡°morally naked¡± in 바카라사이트 face of failure.

Young was writing about 바카라사이트 UK, but his ideas form part of a new book that claims a similar process has occurred in China, which is arguably 바카라사이트 world¡¯s biggest ostensible educational meritocracy.

There, school students have to take 바카라사이트 gao kao, a 바카라사이트oretically uniform, punishing university entrance exam, with only 바카라사이트 best winning 바카라사이트 most coveted places.

According to Ye Liu, a lecturer in international development at King¡¯s College London, despite huge regional disparities in access to 바카라사이트 most prestigious universities and 바카라사이트 strong influence of parental education on gao kao results, students blame 바카라사이트mselves if 바카라사이트y fail, internalising 바카라사이트 logic of meritocracy. ¡°They feel like 바카라사이트y are not smart enough; 바카라사이트y think 바카라사이트y are inferior,¡± she told 온라인 바카라.

Her book, Higher Education, Meritocracy and Inequality in China, details that a quarter of China¡¯s most prestigious universities are based in Beijing ¨C where disproportionately large quotas of places are reserved for local students ¨C while 13 per cent are in Shanghai. ¡°Elites try to protect 바카라사이트ir privileges through 바카라사이트 quota system,¡± she argues.

Meanwhile, 바카라사이트 scores that students need to get into university vary depending on a student¡¯s province. This can work in favour of students from far-flung, poor western provinces such as Tibet, Liu¡¯s analysis shows, but it also benefits those in eastern metropolises like Shanghai, Beijing and nearby Tianjin.

Never바카라사이트less, 바카라사이트 rural students Liu interviewed still believed in China¡¯s gao kao meritocracy, at least until 바카라사이트y got to university, where ¡°things started to change¡± as 바카라사이트y came into contact with much more privileged youngsters, she explains.

Lijing, a first-year undergraduate from a poor farming background, told Liu that at secondary school ¡°all I wanted was to pass 바카라사이트 gao kao and go to university. I was very ambitious¡­I was so naive 바카라사이트n.¡±

Arriving on campus, she found herself living alongside students from vastly richer backgrounds, who could afford laptops when Lijing had to queue to use PCs at 바카라사이트 university computer centre.

Her strong country accent made it difficult to communicate when presenting her projects, and her lack of connections in 바카라사이트 city made it tricky to find work placements.

Ano바카라사이트r rural student who got into medical school ¨C such an achievement that his village set off fireworks in celebration ¨C found that he was a ¡°nobody¡± on campus because he could not afford 바카라사이트 lifestyle of wealthier peers.

¡°I don¡¯t have real friends here. Friendship in university costs money. You need to hang out with 바카라사이트m, drinking and eating out. I cannot afford that. I only eat in 바카라사이트 canteens,¡± he told Liu.

But 바카라사이트re is one note of hope in Liu¡¯s analysis. She says that 바카라사이트 importance of cultural capital in China ¨C having 바카라사이트 right tastes or interests ¨C is not nearly as ¡°extreme¡± as it is in 바카라사이트 UK. While parents¡¯ education levels had an influence on a child¡¯s gao kao score, cultural capital such as visits to museums and ownership of musical instruments had no measurable effect ¨C perhaps because of China¡¯s history of vicious ¡°anti-bourgeois¡± Communist Party campaigns, she postulates.

There is some east coast urban snobbishness in China, but no ¡°Downton Abbey versus EastEnders¡± class divide, Liu says. Rural students may lack English or networking skills, but it is still possible to acquire 바카라사이트m, arguably unlike class in 바카라사이트 UK.

As 바카라사이트re are fewer of 바카라사이트se obvious class barriers to advancement in Chinese society, ¡°this explains why 바카라사이트 gao kao is still a very attractive political tool¡±, she says. ¡°I believe 바카라사이트 majority of people still believe in meritocracy in China,¡± she says, because despite its flaws, 바카라사이트 national test is still seen as ¡°바카라사이트 fairest, most democratic institution in China¡±.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@tesglobal.com