高考招生計劃調整引發中國民衆抗議

Protests against changes to China’s university admission system spread to a fourth province yesterday as authorities scrambled to contain growing anger over one of the most important issues for the emerging middle class: access to higher education.

昨天，中國高考招生計劃調整引發的抗議蔓延至第四個省份，各地政府正手忙腳亂地試圖抑制民衆對高等教育機會不公迸發出的日益強烈的怒火。接受高等教育的機會是中國新興中產階級最重視的事情之一。

According to a post on the Weibo messaging service, parents gathered outside the education bureau in Baoding, Hebei province, to demand “fairness” and that the education ministry scrap plans to reduce the number of places reserved for local applicants.

新浪微博(Weibo)上的帖子顯示，考生家長聚集在河北省保定市教育局外要求“公平”，還要求教育部撤銷減少當地高考招生名額的計劃。

This followed protests at the weekend by hundreds of residents in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province. In recent weeks parents have taken to the streets of cities in Hubei and Jiangsu provinces.

在此之前，河南鄭州的數百名市民曾於上週末舉行了抗議。最近數週，湖北和江蘇多座城市的家長們都走上了街頭。

Like their state-run counterparts in the US, Chinese universities reserve a percentage of places for students from their home provinces, allocated through a gruelling annual exam known as the gaokao. The education ministry had ordered universities in many populous provinces to reduce such quotas and increase access for non-local students, sparking the backlash.

與美國公立大學類似，中國的高校爲其所在省份的考生保留了一定比例的高招名額（一年一度的高考是非常殘酷的考試）。中國教育部命令很多人口密集省份的高校減少省內招生名額、增加對非本地考生的錄取名額。此舉引發了激烈反對。

Internet censors have taken down social media posts and online discussions about the reforms and protests. One posting on WeChat, the most popular messaging app, called on parents in southern Hunan to join a protest scheduled for today.

有關高考招生改革和相關抗議的社交媒體帖子和在線討論已被互聯網審查人員刪除，這反映出了這件事的敏感性。不過，也有漏網之魚。中國人氣最高的即時通信應用微信(WeChat)上就有一個帖子，呼籲湖南省的家長們加入定於本週二舉行的一場抗議活動。

In an open letter to the state council, parents in Henan complained about alleged discrimination for places at the most sought-after institutions, such as Peking university in Beijing. According to the letter, reported by the South China Morning Post, Peking accepted one out of every 8,900 Henan applicants in 2013, compared with one out of every 325 from Beijing.

在一封致中國國務院的公開信中，河南的家長們抱怨北京大學(Peking University)等最熱門高校的招生名額分配存在歧視。這封由《南華早報》(South China Morning Post)最先報道的公開信顯示，2013年北京大學在河南的高考錄取率爲1/8900，在北京的錄取率則爲1/325。

That complaint was echoed yesterday by parents protesting in Baoding, an industrial city a few hours’ drive from the capital. They said the imbalance was particularly unfair given the central government’s effort to merge Hebei, Beijing and a third city, Tianjin, into an integrated region with 110m people.

昨天在保定（距離北京僅數小時車程的一座工業城市）舉行抗議的家長也抱怨了同樣的問題。他們稱，考慮到中央政府的“京津冀一體化”努力（也就是將這三地整合爲一個總人口1.1億的地區），高考招生名額分配的不均衡顯得格外不公平。

“Parents in Baoding are making their voices heard,” the protesters said, according to the Weibo post. “You talk about integration . . . so why are you so cruel to Hebei students?”

微博上的帖子顯示，抗議者說保定家長正在發出自己的聲音，他們打出的橫幅上寫着，“喊着京津冀一體化的口號卻對河北的考生如此殘忍”。

A parent in Hunan said: “When you are hungry, you ship our food to Beijing. When you are thirsty, you transfer our water to Beijing. Why won’t you allow our children to study in Beijing?”

湖南的一名家長稱：“你們餓了，就把我們的糧食運到北京。你們渴了，就把我們的水調到北京。你們爲什麼不讓我們的孩子在北京讀書？”

The education ministry could not be reached for comment.

記者未能聯繫上中國教育部請其置評。

A municipal education bureau in Henan said local students would “benefit from the adjusted college entrance exam programme”.

河南省濮陽市教育局發表公開信稱：“河南省是今年國家高招計劃調整受益省份。

A statement by the Puyang government said: “We hope parents will not believe online rumours. Everyone cares about fair education and we will take the issue to our superiors.”

“懇請廣大學生家長勿輕信網絡謠言……對於大家關注的教育公平問題，我們將積極向上級主管部門反映。”