Chen Yulu, president of Renmin University of China, said the recruitment policy signals a genuine breakthrough.

"The basis of educational equality is equal opportunity. The best solution is to provide equal resources, when appropriate, to narrow the gap. However, forcing through root-and-branch changes in basic education in remote and rural areas will be a long-term project. The proportion of students from poor families has fallen in recent years, and our Fulfill Your Dream program is a test of recruitment policy," Chen said. The program, launched in 2012, aims to provide more opportunities for students from poor backgrounds, and explore a comprehensive system of recruitment.

Ding Guanghong, the head of the admissions office at Fudan University, said the school won't turn down a single student because of financial issues, and prospective students can apply for one of more than 50 scholarships through which they can receive as much as 50,000 yuan ($8,000) over four years.

Development worries

Li Zhen, head of the High School attached to Northeast Normal University, a key high school in Jilin province, said she was confident of reaching the target and raising the number of students from poor villages who attend top universities by 10 percent.

According to Li, who is also a deputy of the National People's Congress, China's top legislative body, it won't be hard to achieve the target "because a few universities, such as Fudan University in Shanghai and Tsinghua University in Beijing, are required to recruit a certain percentage of 'poor students' every year". She supported the policy, but expressed some concerns about the development of village schools, which are often unable to provide adequate food and clothing for students, let alone a good education and higher-quality teaching.

"Universities can provide equal admission opportunities for disadvantaged students, but how they live or study on campus will depend on them alone," she said.

For instance, Peking University plans to admit more students from rural areas by lowering the pass mark to 60 percent below that required for students from better-off backgrounds, but consideration should also be given to how the students will adapt to the pace of study at college.

"If a gap develops between these students and those from the cities, it could cause problems, such as low self-esteem, which would not be good for their development," Li said.

She believes that support policies should be put in place. "It's necessary for colleges to formulate measures to guide poor, rural students, to explain how to integrate on campus and how to get along with students from the cities," she said, adding that careers guidance should also be provided. "If we can't provide follow-up help for those students, they will find it difficult to enjoy university study and life," she said.

Li's school is now cooperating with five others in Jilin province, three of which are in poverty-stricken regions. "Every year, we choose at least five students from the villages to study at our school, sharing our teaching resources and recommending a full quota to colleges," she added.

Wang Li, a senior physics student in Chongqing University, has not spent any of his own money since his freshman year. As a student from a low-income family, the 21-year-old had to work hard to win a scholarship, and still sometimes works part time to make ends meet. However, the years of study and sacrifice have paid off, and he has secured a full scholarship to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to study for a doctorate.

Wang is one of the disadvantaged whose life has been changed by access to the best education the country can offer. However, others haven't been so fortunate. "Most of my classmates from primary school are unable to go to college," he said.

Like Wang's former classmates, high-school dropout Su is in the same position. He now works in an Internet bar in his hometown, and admitted that he's lost the confidence to compete with his urban peers. However, he never stops dreaming about college life and said he hopes the new policy will help disadvantaged youngsters to achieve the goal he has missed.

"I really hope that this new policy will help people to avoid ending up in the same position as me," he said.

Contact the authors at luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn, caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn and suzhou@chinadaily.com.cn

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