BEIJING, June 11 (Xinhuanet) -- The national entrance examinations known as gaokao have been the only yardstick for college enrollment for more than three decades. But now that model has been broken.

For admission to the South University of Science and Technology of China, an applicant's gaokao scores account for 60 percent, average scores during senior high school years account for 10 percent and the result of a capability test given by the university itself another 30 percent.

This new model assesses a more extensive range of capabilities.

Even though it's a small step, the new model is a milestone for the country's higher learning. With 40 percent of the assessment at its discretion, this university may turn down even those who gain the highest scores in the gaokao.

Prestigious universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua do enroll some students by letting them take their own exams in addition to the gaokao. But the SUSTC tests a more extensive range of capabilities, including candidates' memories, imagination, insight and attention.

However, whether universities should be allowed to enroll students completely on their own remains a question, although some educationists have strongly championed such a change.

Given the bureaucratized system in most institutions of higher learning, if they are given absolute authority for the entire enrollment process, it is quite likely that the fairness and equality that the current gaokao offers will be affected.

Rigid as the gaokao system is, it is irreplaceable because it makes every candidate equal. Yet its rigidity and limitations in measuring the real capabilities of students do need to be reformed or complemented by other means.

What is urgently needed is the improvement of our universities, which need to be managed in such a way that honesty and perseverance in academic pursuit are respected and there is little room for academic dishonesty as well as bureaucracy.

Sound management and a good academic environment in universities will lay a solid foundation for them to have more autonomy to enroll students.

Hopefully, the trail the SUSTC has blazed will breathe new life into the current college enrollment system.