Millions of high school students in Chinatook a college entrance examination recently.The highly competitive test is often praisedfor giving good students a chance to enter the best schools.It makes the competition for collegefair for students from poor families.The examination is known as the Gaokao.Universities are supposed to require good scoreson the test for admission to college.But reports suggest that some peopleare getting into schools without even taking the test.Education is very importantto gaining a good standing in Chinese society.This year, about nine million students competed forabout seven million places in colleges.Every June, Chinese media report on the hard workand worry of students preparing for the Gaokao.This year, however, newspapers are writing storiesabout corruption in the country's top schools.One case involves Cai Rongsheng,the former head of admissionsat Beijing's highly respected Renmin University.Mr. Cai reportedly took moneyin exchange for approving admissionsfor students who did not take the Gaokao.Yang Rui studies Chinese education policyat the University of Hong Kong.He says the Gaokao offered millions of peoplechances for a better life.And Mr. Yang says it changed the countryafter the late 1970s."But increasingly, academics and government policymakersrealized Gaokao is not really fair,Many people are in much better positions than those in rural- for example - schools.Also, scores themselves only cannot tell the whole picture," Yang said.Some universities in China are permitted to chose up to five percent of their first year studentsfor reasons other than schoolwork.These could include sports,interest groups or community volunteer work.The policy is designed to help candidateswhose abilities would not identifiable from Gaokao test scores.Schools also have had more freedomto chose candidates from rural areas.Xiong Bingqi is vice presidentof the 21st Century Education Research Institute,a Non-Governmental Group.He proposes other ways to get different kinds of students.He says students should be nominated by their high schools,then take examinations at the university.Finally, a person would be offered a placeat the school through performance records.Mr. Xiong says instead administrators with power to decidewho enters college have hijacked the system.Officials have banned trading university entryfor money or better treatment.Earlier this year, the Ministry of Educationdemanded a more open and better supervised admission system.And that's the Education Report from VOA Learning English.