Xinyang Municipality in Henan province has publicized a policy that is favorable for female examinees. It stipulates that in the entrance examinations for high schools and vocational schools, female candidates can have two extra points in their written exams. In the selection of cadres, female candidates can also receive extra points that are equal to 2% of the full marks on the written exams.

Now let's take a look at some responses from media.

Reporter:

An article in China Youth Daily appreciates the policy for it shows that the government has taken the responsibility of caring more for females. However, the writer has doubts about whether the policy will be effective.

On one hand, inequality between the sexes is still common in the job market. Females are sometimes being discriminated against by employers. Some companies would rather hire male students whose tests scores are much lower than those of the girl students. Therefore, instead of the extra points, what these females really need is equality between men and women.

Otherwise, even if the government adds 20 or 40 points to them; they still won't have equal job opportunities.

On the other hand, the coverage of the policy is very limited. In China, there are hundreds of millions of females, and only a small percentage of them take those examinations. Even if the policy turns out to be effective, the rest of the females are still being discriminated against. So when solving this problem, the government should focus on discrimination against female students and staff who are not taking the examinations.

In a word, unless the unequal view of men and women is eradicated, the problem of unfair treatment for women in competitions can not be solved.

Sanqin Metropolis has a comment pointing out that though the purpose of the policy is good; its content is unfair which would lead to more inequalities. Take the high school entrance examination for example, since female and male students study under the same conditions, they should be admitted according to their own test scores. Thus the extra points for female students are a kind of unfairness in education.

Moreover, the policy itself is a hidden discrimination against women. If a girl passes the entrance exam by the additional points, she can not win real respects from others. At the same time, in some aspect, the extra points are proof that females are less competent than males. Such ideas might become subconscious and will go against women's independence and confidence.

This way, the writer claims that creating an environment in which females can be fully respected and cared is the best solution.