Legal Research On The System Of Quotas For Different Areas In University Admissions After The National College Entrance Examination

Higher Education supports the lofty ideals and beautiful wishes embodied in the dream of the Chinese People.Nevertheless,the reality’s not looking very good.As an important prerequisite,the system of quotas for different areas in university admissions after the National College Entrance Examination has always been at the forefront of public opinion,which should be the best entry path to discuss “the Equal Right to Higher Education” and has the practical significance.It is legal scholars’ responsibility to view the Quota System from a legal perspective.Senior Scholars have conducted in-depth research into designing the examination papers by the educational authorities of each province,recruiting students based on institutional standards alone and the equal right to education,and come to conclusions from the perspective of constitutional jurisprudence.By contrast,few scholars carry out the academic research from the angle of administrative law at present,and the ones who perform the research from the two angles combined are few and far between.With this in mind,this paper is written to express my personal opinion and also as a bold attempt to deepen the related understanding.The method of empirical research has been employed in this paper and the conclusions are reached by analyzing the related data and arguing from different angles.By surveying the current situation of the system of quotas for different areas in university admissions after the National College Entrance Examination,and by analyzing the operation of positive law and the application in reality of the legal theory,it is believed that “the Equal Right to Higher Education” is still not a fundamental right of citizens in China entitled by law,which is not prescribed by the constitution and laws,but whose pursuit of value should be affirmed.The stipulation of Article 2 of the Education Law of the People’s Republic of China that all citizens,regardless of ethnic group,race,sex,occupation,property status or religious belief,shall enjoy equal opportunities for education according to law,can be considered a partial response to this pursuit of value.However,territory is not,as an element,enumerated in that article,which is the original reason why people castigate the system of quotas for different areas in university admissions after the National College Entrance Examination.Analysis of problems arising from the system helps to deepen the understanding of it from the legal point of view.Firstly,the central government and the local government play a leading role together in deciding the quotas in university admissions,which means the subject of right to set quotas is multiple,among which,the central government has the final say.Institutions of high education have also got the right to participate in making decisions to some extent and some institution even enjoys the limited right to recruit students independently.The minimum total marks required for admission varies in different areas and the allocation of quotas in university admission favors local students,both of which demonstrate the system is losing its balance.Secondly,the laws,regulations and related normative documents,which are used as the bases to allocate the quotas,thought not unconstitutional,are not good for the full protection of citizens’ equal right to education.The current system tries to acquire delicate balance between institutional justice and benefit game,recruitment of students with the highest marks and local protectionism,fair examination and equitable geographical distribution,but the results are not satisfactory and the rationality is worthy of discussion.Finally,the issues and disputes fomented by this system have cast considerable social influence,such as the emergence of immigration for the National College Entrance Examination,the suit against the Ministry of Education filed by the examinees from Qingdao,the reduction in college student recruitment in Jiangsu Province,from which we can conclude that bad policies will do harm to examinees,and that there are issues concerned the justiciability of administrative act,the judicial remedy for civil rights,the discordant status of practical application of the theory of administrative laws.As the saying goes,stones from other hills may serve to polish the jade of this one.Because the current system of quotas for different areas in university admissions after the National College Entrance Examination is not so satisfying,we can gain experience from ancient China and other countries to improve the present situation.The consideration about the balance between fair examination and equitable geographical distribution under the imperial examination system in ancient China,the Affirmative Action in the United States,the German Higher Education Framework Act,and the principle of Japanese university geographical layout that one national university was established in each prefecture,could be used for reference by us.Of course,it is impractical for us to simply copy the experience of ancient China and other countries to solve China’s practical problem.What we need to do is perfect our system from the angles of legislation,law enforcement and judicature,respectively.In the field of legislation,on one hand,we need to amend the law and add the provisions relating to equitable geographical distribution to the law to make “the Equal Right to Higher Education” a fundamental right of every citizen;on the other hand,we should strengthen anti-discrimination legislation and legislative guarantee.In the field of law enforcement,not only should we fully implement the basic principles of the administrative law,keep the public informed of the government affairs and expand the participation by the public,but also we should straighten out the relationship between the central government and the local government in making decisions in the system of quotas for different areas in university admissions after the National College Entrance Examination,and crack down on the illegal practices that use the higher education as a profit-making tool.In the field of judicature,we should create conditions to make abstract administrative acts justiciable in due course and try to realize the judicialization of the constitution to provide citizens with effectual judicial remedy to safeguard their constitutional rights.