Preferential Admission Policies for Ethnic Minority Students in Yunnan: Help or Hindrance

Dongyuan Deng, Seepho Sirinthorn, Andrew Lian

Abstract


This research project took Yunnan (YN), the most southwestern province of China and a frontier province with the largest number of ethnic minorities along with multi-ethnic languages and abundant ethnic cultures, as a specific case. It studied both the current situation of minority education and the necessity for Preferential Admission Policies (PAPs) in the particular stage of the national college entrance examination (NCEE) from a social perspective. Quantitative statistics was used to analyze data from the different education levels of the minority groups. Document analysis and in-depth interviews with four groups of participants (exclusive ethnic minority university students (EEMs), university teachers, administrators and provincial officials of Yunnan Province) were conducted to explore the rationality and feasibility of PAPs. The findings reveal that PAPs are indeed justified in Yunnan’s multi-ethnic social context, at the same time, geographical remoteness and regional gaps, socioeconomic determinants, and linguistic barriers contributed to the need for PAPs at present under the average level of minority education in Yunnan.

https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.4.21


Keywords


Yunnan; ethnic minority education; Preferential Admission Policies; entrance examination; social context

Full Text:

PDF

References


Adamson, B., & Feng, A. (2009). A comparison of trilingual education policies for ethnic minorities in China. Compare, 39(3), 321-333.

Adamson, B., & Feng, A. (2014). Models for trilingual education in the People’s Republic of China. In D. Gorter et al. (Eds.), Minority languages and multilingual education (pp. 29-44). Dordrecht: Springer.

Adamson, B., & Xia, B. (2011). A case study of the college English test and ethnic- minority university students in China: negotiating the final hurdle. Multilingual Education, 1(1), 1-11.

Ba, Z. (2009). Using Yugur in local schools: reflections on China’s policies for minority language and education. In Zhou M. & A. M. Hill (Eds.), Affirmative Action in China and the US (pp. 199-209). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Bao, R., & Liu, N. (2015). Content analysis of the national college entrance examination bonus point policy since the reform and opening up. Journal of Higher Education Management, 9(5), 30-35.

Cai, Y. (2014). Looking at the future of China’s population from the sixth national population census and United Nations population projections. Chinese Research Perspectives on Population and labour, 1. Boston: Brill Academic Publishers.

Campos, B. C., Ren, Y., & Petrick, M. (2016). The impact of education on income inequality between ethnic minorities and Han in China. China Economic Review, 41, 253-267.

Chen, L. (2019). The retrospect and prospect of the research on the policy of awarded marks for minority examinees in the college entrance examination. Education and Examinations, 3, 10-15.

Dao, F., & Hu, F. (2005). An analysis of the 25 ethnic minorities education situation in Yunnan. Journal of Honghe College, 2(1), 84-88.

Dong, F., Gou, Y., Wang, X., & Qiu, J. (2015). Four models of Mongolian nationality schools in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. In Feng A. & B. Adamson (Eds.), Trilingualism in Education in China: Models and Challenges (pp. 25-45). Dordrecht: Springer, Netherlands.

Feng, Y., & Cheung, M. (2010). Public policies affecting ethnic minorities in China. China Journal of Social Work, 1(3), 248-265.

Finifrock, J. E., & Schilken, D. (2015). Emerging trilingualism among the Dong minority in Guizhou Province. In Feng A. & B. Adamson (Eds.), Trilingualism in education in China: Models and challenges (pp. 199-221). Dordrecht: Springer, Netherlands.

Gil, J., & Adamson, B. (2011). The English language in mainland China: A sociolinguistic profile. In A. Feng (Eds.), English Language Education Across Greater China (pp. 23-45). New York: Multilingual Matters.

Gladney, D. C. (1994). Representing nationality in China: refiguring majority/minority identities. Journal of Asian Studies, 53(1), 92-123.

Gorter, & Durk. (2015). Multilingual interaction and minority languages: proficiency and language practices in education and society. Language Teaching, 48(01), 82-98.

Guan, H. (2019). The constitutional regulation over the policy of awarded points in China’s college admission system. Journal of Nanjing Normal University (Social Science Edition), 3, 106-115.

Guo, A., Ding, X., Zhong, F., Cheng, Q., & Huang, C. (2019). Predicting the future Chinese population using shared socioeconomic pathways, the sixth national population census, and a PDE model. Sustainability, 11(13), 3686. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11133686.

Gynan, S. N., & Baker, C. (2011). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. Modern Language Journal, 78(3), 390.

Hayhoe, R. (2011). Higher education reform in China: beyond the expansion (review). China Review International, 18(2), 220-224.

Hill, C. E., Knox, S., Thompson, B. J., Williams, E. N., Hess, S. A., & Ladany, N. (2005). Consensual qualitative research: An update. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(2), 196.

Hu, Y., & Ga, Y. (2016). Correct understanding of bonus points for ethnic minorities in the college entrance examination. Journal of South-Central University for Nationalities (Humanities and Social Sciences), 36(5), 18-22.

Li, H., Loyalka, P., Rozelle, S., Wu, B., & Xie, J. (2015). Unequal access to college in China: How far have poor, rural students been left behind? The China Quarterly, 221, 185-207.

Li, X. (2014). Questioning China’s preferential college admission policies. Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 16(1), 70-90.

Ludwig, R., Pagel, S., & Mühlhäusler, P. (Eds.). (2018). Linguistic ecology and language contact. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Mackerras, C. P. (2003). China’s Ethnic Minorities and Globalization. London: Routledge.

National People’s Congress. (2018). Higher education law of the PRC (Revised). Higher Education in China, 10, 2-5.

Nunkoosing, K. (2005). The problems with interviews. Qualitative Health Research, 15(5), 698-706.

Postiglione, G. A., Jiao, B., & Tsering, N. (2009). Tibetan student perspectives on Neidi schools. In Zhou M. & A. M. Hill (Eds.), Affirmative Action in China and the US (pp. 127-142). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Sautman, B. (2010). Ethnic law and minority rights in China: progress and constraints. Law & Policy, 21(3), 283-314.

Sun, Y., Ren, Z., He, Y., & Zhu, H. (2013). Factors influencing rural teacher flow in Yunnan ethnic minority areas. Asian Agricultural Research, 5(8), 93-97.

Sunuodula, M., & Cao, Y. (2015). Language learning and empowerment: Languages in education for Uyghurs in Xinjiang. In Feng A. & B. Adamson (Eds.), Trilingualism in Education in China: Models and Challenges (pp. 65-99). Dordrecht: Springer, Netherlands.

Sunuodula, M., & Feng, A. (2011). Learning English as a third language by Uyghur students in Xinjiang: A blessing in disguise. In Feng A. (Eds.), English Language Education Across Greater China (pp. 260-283). New York: Multilingual Matters.

Teng, X., & Ma, X. (2009). Preferential policies for ethnic minorities and educational equality in higher education in China. In Zhou M. & A. M. Hill (Eds.), Affirmative action in China and the US (pp. 83-98). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Verhoeven, J. C., & Zhang, J. (2016). The pathways to higher education for ethnic minorities in China are not easy. In Lee, J., Yu. Z., Huang, X., & Law E. H. (Eds.), Educational Development in Western China: Towards Quality and Equity (pp. 121–135). Rotterdam: Sense Publisher.

Wan, G., & Jun, Y. (2008). How China best educates its ethnic minority children: strategies, experience and challenges. In Wan G. (Eds.), The Education of Diverse Student Populations (pp. 139-157). Dordrecht: Springer.

Wang, G. (2015). Ethnic multilingual education in China: A critical observation. Working Papers in Educational Linguistics (WPEL), 30(2), 3-15.

Wang, T. (2009). Preferential policies for minority college admission in China: Recent developments, necessity, and impact. In Zhou M. & A. M. Hill (Eds.), Affirmative action in China and the US (pp. 71-82). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Yang, J. (2005). English as a third language among China’s ethnic minorities. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 8(6), 552-567.

Yuan, Y., Hu, D., Li, P., Zhu, H., Wang, J., Shang, Y., & Ba, H. (2015). A survey report on trilingualism and trilingual education in Yunnan. In Feng A. & B. Adamson (Eds.), Trilingualism in education in China: models and challenges (pp. 175-198). Dordrecht: Springer, Netherlands.

Zhou, M. (2009). Tracking the Historical Development of China’s Positive and Preferential Policies for Minority Education: Continuities and Discontinuities. In

Zhou, M., & Hill, A. M. (Eds.). Affirmative Action in China and the US (pp. 47-70). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230100


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


e-ISSN: 1694-2116

p-ISSN: 1694-2493