Delayed by earthquake, students in Sichuan finally take university entrance exams

The Associated Press ,  Beijing   |  Thu, 07/03/2008 5:41 PM

More than 120,000 high school students whose university entrance exams were delayed by the massive Chinese earthquake in May finally sat down Thursday to take the tests that will dictate their future.

Nearly 100,000 of the students were from Sichuan, the province worst hit by the May 12 earthquake that killed nearly 70,000 people, China's Education Ministry said. The quake also left 5
million homeless and destroyed tens of thousands of buildings, including schools.

High school students in the rest of China took their make-or-break exams about one month ago. Around 10.1 million students compete for 5.99 million university spots, in what for many is their only chance.

"This morning, because we were fully prepared, the exams went smoothly," said Zhou Guangrong, head of the Chengdu education bureau.

Psychologists were available to counsel students if there were any aftershocks and one girl wrote an exam essay about the impact the disaster had on her life.

"The earthquake made me grow up and be more mature," she wrote.

The exam - called the "gao kao" - is so important that authorities around the country routinely reroute traffic and suspend work on construction sites so the students will not be disturbed.

The official Xinhua News Agency said nearly 80 percent of the students in the earthquake areas "will attend the most important exam in their lives in makeshift houses."

Mr. Zeng, head of the propaganda office of Sichuan Education Department, said there would be a 2 percent increase in the number of students allowed into universities from the earthquake
areas, as decided by the Education Ministry. He refused to give his full name, as is common among Chinese government officials.(**)

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