Chinese university in favouritism row

There are not enough university places to go round

By Duncan Hewitt in Shanghai

It is not what you know but who you know when it comes to getting a place at a Chinese university.

Or at least that is the accusation flying around following the accidental publication on the internet of a list of new undergraduates at one of the country's best-known universities.

Alongside the name of each student the list showed the names of senior officials who were either related to the student or supported their application.

Despite a media outcry, university officials have denied any wrongdoing.

In the past, it was widely believed in China that well-connected students had a good chance of securing a prestigious university place, sometimes by paying extra fees.

But in recent years, the government has sought to reassure students that admission is based solely on the results of fiercely competitive national university entrance exams.

Public fears

So there was outrage in the Chinese media when Shanghai's Jiaotong university, one of China's top science and technology colleges, accidentally published the controversial internal list.

The list included the names of judges, communist party officials and ministry bureaucrats who had contacted the university in connection with the students' applications.

A university spokesman said these officials simply wanted to pass on information about the applicants. And he said this had not influenced a college decision to admit the students, who he said had all done well in the university entrance exams.

Nevertheless, the incident will add to public concerns about the fairness of a system which sees many well-qualified applicants excluded from universities every year, because there are only enough places for less than two-thirds of the 4.5 million students who sit the entrance exams.

The Chinese Government has pledged to increase the number of university places by almost 50% over the next five years, but at the moment, more and more students are having to seek alternative routes to education, either in new private institutions or abroad.