Illustration: Liu Rui

People are understandably worried about the plunge in the numbers of rural students at Tsinghua and Peking University, China's two top schools.

The equality of education has long been a problem and it is evident that some rural students are losing advantage in the competition for good universities. Besides the uneven distribution of education resources, parents in cities are investing more and more in their children's study while an increasing number of rural students grow up with their parents away in the cities for work and unable to help them study.

But are ordinary universities or training schools so bad an ending for many rural students? In fact, the employment prospects of graduates of ordinary universities and training schools are no worse than those from key universities and sometimes better.

 As statistics from the Ministry of Education show, in 2010, the average employment rate of graduates of vocational schools is 95 percent and that of college graduates is only 85 percent. Of course, these statistics need to be taken with a grain of salt, since they're often fiddled by schools, and they say nothing about the quality of the jobs. But the difference is clear.

Students from particular vocational schools are often snatched up before they graduate and the supply usually cannot meet the demand. Take Chengdu New East Cuisine School, which claims a 100 percent employment rate for its graduates within a year of graduation. This kind of education might prove suitable for some rural students who cannot enter universities for various reasons.

As to ordinary universities, even though many companies or organizations pay much attention to their graduates and prefer students from key universities, the situation is changing.

More and more companies, particularly foreign and private ones, are abandoning past prejudices and focusing more on the actual ability and experience of the candidates. In society, personal ability and skills will weigh more in one's career development rather than educational background. One can still stand out with his or her own efforts.

But the worship of famous universities is still common and there is discrimination in the employment market against graduates from ordinary universities or vocational schools.

Diplomas from top universities are seen as a ram that can smash through any door, and some students simply rely on the fame of their school rather than on actual ability in competing for a position. It is probably one major reason why so many students are struggling to get into top universities. But is it worth targeting top schools when trying to improve rural students' lot?

The answer is no. As Xiong Bingqi, a professor at the Shanghai Jiaotong University, commented, even if the proportion of rural students in key universities is raised, the majority of students will still end up at ordinary universities, junior colleges or even vocational schools.

The present focus on the enrollment of key universities could only solidify the trend and aggravate the competitive environment. The most urgent thing to do is to reform the educational system to make it fairer to rural students.

We certainly hope more diligent and smart rural students can enter best universities through their arduous efforts and hope a fairer education environment will take shape. Meanwhile, we need to reflect whether getting into key universities is the best target for all high school students, while there are other choices today.

More attention should be paid to ordinary universities and vocational schools. It will be a good step to balance the distribution of educational resources and to alleviate the focus over key universities.  

But while rural students are free to make their choices based on their own situation after high school education, the recent pessimistic media reports about the fall of the proportion of rural students in key universities might to some extent influence their decision and cause some students to shy away from the college entrance examination.

Even though there are defects in today's educational system, changes will be made gradually and the best can still make it through. It is true that more attention should be paid to rural students, but the media should be cautious of painting so gloomy a picture that they discourage potential college graduates.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. xuming@globaltimes.com.cn