Few areas revamp gaokao policies for nonlocals

In response to recent government regulations, nine Chinese municipalities and regions have announced new policies regarding the gaokao, the national college entrance examinations, for nonlocal students.

While the news signals a step in the right direction to make good on China's pledge to address equity in education, places like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong Province, which have seen stronger appeals for such policies, were not on this list as of Thursday.

Heilongjiang, Anhui, Hebei and Hunan provinces, as well as Chongqing Municipality and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, have published their policies and announced that they will be implemented in 2013.

Related policies for Shandong, Fujian and Jiangxi provinces will be implemented in 2014, China News Service reported Thursday.

The polices come after the State Council forwarded a document from four ministries including the Ministry of Education, requiring that all local governments publish new gaokao policies for nonlocals by the end of the year.

Honglongjiang Province was the first place to release its revamped policy, which says that nonlocal students can take the exams in the province if they have studied for three consecutive years there and their parents have legal careers and permanent addresses in the province.