Keywords
The Hukou System, The Gaokao Reform, China, International Law
Abstract
This Note first outlines the history of the hukou system in China before and after the major economic reform of 1978. Second, this Note outlines the specific institutional barriers that migrant children face when accessing compulsory, secondary, and tertiary education, with a specific focus on the hukou system. Third, this Note analyzes the goals and content of China’s State Council’s opinion released on September 4, 2014 suggesting a reform to the gaokao system intended to alleviate the institutional barriers to education. Finally, this Note argues that first, the State Council’s suggested reform directly addresses only one of the multiple institutional barriers that migrant children face in accessing tertiary education, and even then, does not provide adequate specificities to make any real impact and, second, ultimately without major reform to the hukou system the government will be unable to achieve a level of equality between urban and migrant students.
Recommended Citation
Amy Burkhoff,
"One Exam Determines One's Life": The 2014 Reforms to the Chinese National College Entrance Exam,
38 Fordham Int'l L.J. 1473
(2015).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj/vol38/iss5/5