Protests against changes to China’s university admission system spread to a fourth province yesterday as authorities scrambled to contain growing anger over one of the most important issues for the emerging middle class: access to higher education.

昨天，中国高考招生计划调整引发的抗议蔓延至第四个省份，各地政府正手忙脚乱地试图抑制民众对高等教育机会不公迸发出的日益强烈的怒火。接受高等教育的机会是中国新兴中产阶级最重视的事情之一。

According to a post on the Weibo messaging service, parents gathered outside the education bureau in Baoding, Hebei province, to demand “fairness” and that the education ministry scrap plans to reduce the number of places reserved for local applicants.

新浪微博(Weibo)上的帖子显示，考生家长聚集在河北省保定市教育局外要求“公平”，还要求教育部撤销减少当地高考招生名额的计划。

This followed protests at the weekend by hundreds of residents in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province. In recent weeks parents have taken to the streets of cities in Hubei and Jiangsu provinces.

在此之前，河南郑州的数百名市民曾于上周末举行了抗议。最近数周，湖北和江苏多座城市的家长们都走上了街头。

Like their state-run counterparts in the US, Chinese universities reserve a percentage of places for students from their home provinces, allocated through a gruelling annual exam known as the gaokao. The education ministry had ordered universities in many populous provinces to reduce such quotas and increase access for non-local students, sparking the backlash.

与美国公立大学类似，中国的高校为其所在省份的考生保留了一定比例的高招名额（一年一度的高考是非常残酷的考试）。中国教育部命令很多人口密集省份的高校减少省内招生名额、增加对非本地考生的录取名额。此举引发了激烈反对。

Internet censors have taken down social media posts and online discussions about the reforms and protests. One posting on WeChat, the most popular messaging app, called on parents in southern Hunan to join a protest scheduled for today.

有关高考招生改革和相关抗议的社交媒体帖子和在线讨论已被互联网审查人员删除，这反映出了这件事的敏感性。不过，也有漏网之鱼。中国人气最高的即时通信应用微信(WeChat)上就有一个帖子，呼吁湖南省的家长们加入定于本周二举行的一场抗议活动。

In an open letter to the state council, parents in Henan complained about alleged discrimination for places at the most sought-after institutions, such as Peking university in Beijing. According to the letter, reported by the South China Morning Post, Peking accepted one out of every 8,900 Henan applicants in 2013, compared with one out of every 325 from Beijing.

在一封致中国国务院的公开信中，河南的家长们抱怨北京大学(Peking University)等最热门高校的招生名额分配存在歧视。这封由《南华早报》(South China Morning Post)最先报道的公开信显示，2013年北京大学在河南的高考录取率为1/8900，在北京的录取率则为1/325。

That complaint was echoed yesterday by parents protesting in Baoding, an industrial city a few hours’ drive from the capital. They said the imbalance was particularly unfair given the central government’s effort to merge Hebei, Beijing and a third city, Tianjin, into an integrated region with 110m people.

昨天在保定（距离北京仅数小时车程的一座工业城市）举行抗议的家长也抱怨了同样的问题。他们称，考虑到中央政府的“京津冀一体化”努力（也就是将这三地整合为一个总人口1.1亿的地区），高考招生名额分配的不均衡显得格外不公平。

“Parents in Baoding are making their voices heard,” the protesters said, according to the Weibo post. “You talk about integration . . . so why are you so cruel to Hebei students?”

微博上的帖子显示，抗议者说保定家长正在发出自己的声音，他们打出的横幅上写着，“喊着京津冀一体化的口号却对河北的考生如此残忍”。

A parent in Hunan said: “When you are hungry, you ship our food to Beijing. When you are thirsty, you transfer our water to Beijing. Why won’t you allow our children to study in Beijing?”

湖南的一名家长称：“你们饿了，就把我们的粮食运到北京。你们渴了，就把我们的水调到北京。你们为什么不让我们的孩子在北京读书？”

The education ministry could not be reached for comment.

记者未能联系上中国教育部请其置评。

A municipal education bureau in Henan said local students would “benefit from the adjusted college entrance exam programme”.

河南省濮阳市教育局发表公开信称：“河南省是今年国家高招计划调整受益省份。

A statement by the Puyang government said: “We hope parents will not believe online rumours. Everyone cares about fair education and we will take the issue to our superiors.”

“恳请广大学生家长勿轻信网络谣言……对于大家关注的教育公平问题，我们将积极向上级主管部门反映。”