Universities told to reexamine candidates with falsified qualifications or bonuses

The Ministry of Education has asked universities and colleges to reexamine their candidates to kick out those who were admitted under others' names or with fabricated qualifications on Friday as universities prepare to enroll new students.

The main focus of the reexamination falls on those who won their admission with preferential college admission policies.

In China, college candidates usually enroll at the beginning of September. It's a must for Chinese applicants to colleges and universities to take an annual college entrance exam, known as gaokao. Chinese colleges accept students based on scores they earned in the exam plus the bonus points they can get according to certain policies, which are managed by each province, municipality or autonomous region where the applicants are based.

The bonus is usually awarded to offspring of certain people, for example, the children of people with considerable contributions to society, or those with outstanding achievements in sport, art or other subjects.

The online statement the ministry published on its website asked universities and colleges to organize experts to reexamine those who got bonuses due to their expertise in art and sport.

The statement also asked to check the qualifications of those who were given admission thanks to a national program to help students from remote or impoverished rural regions to get enrolled into prestigious universities.

Launched in 2012 by the ministry, the program allows students to get enrolled with much lower marks than those who don't benefit from the policy. Fudan University in Shanghai, for example, accepted such students if they could score 50 points more than the provincial minimum for a first-tier university in 2016. For students from some regions, however, the enrollment mark could be more than 100 points higher than the provincial first-tier minimum.

Colleges have to check a series of documents, including the admission letter, ID card, certification for change of hukou (household registration), qualification materials for getting bonus and so on, according to the statement.

It also said colleges shouldn't enroll those who are disqualified from the preferential policy and should report the cases to the relevant department for investigation. They are also asked to hand in a reexamination report before September 30.

"Those colleges who fail to fulfill their duties and accept disqualified students will have to bear the consequences," it said.

Contact the writer at houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn