The start of the new autumn term at universities in Beijing,
Shanghai and Nanjing saw the arrival of some unusual students.
Three boys who are blind at
Shanghai Normal
University, another young man without arms at the 100-year-old
Beijing Normal
University, and a 73-year-old enrolled as an auditing student
in Nanjing Medical University.
Meanwhile, in another part of the country, Su Mingjuan, who owes
her schooling to Project Hope, a charity aimed at helping children
from poverty-stricken areas get an education, passed the college
entrance examination which won her a place at Anhui
University in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province.
Higher education is no longer the domain of the young and
physically healthy.
In
2001, the Ministry of Education, the top educational authority of
the country, decided to open higher education to more people by
withdrawing the restrictions of age, 25 years, and marital
status.
This year, a total of 16,000 people over the age of 25 sat the
national college entrance exam.
If
not for the new rules, many might never have had the chance to be
full-time students at a Chinese university.
Although that figure is small compared to the total number of
students sitting the exam, which now stands at more than 4.53
million, the removal of restrictions is significant.
For disabled people, while primary and middle school education is a
legal right, they are sometimes left on the sidelines when it comes
to higher education.
Currently in China, there are as many as 60 million disabled people
-- blind, deaf, the wheelchair-bound and others with
disabilities.
Although some disabled students achieve good academic results, they
are thwarted when it comes to higher education by failing
compulsory health checks.
Things are, however, getting much better since the introduction of
an anti-discrimination law in 1991.
According to the Beijing Daily, more than 300 high school
graduates with physical disabilities attended universities in
Beijing between 1996 and 2001.
This year also bears witness to the success of Project Hope,
initiated 11 years ago. The story of Su Mingjuan is itself a
testimony to the life-transforming work of the project. With their
funding she was able to go to school and sat this year's national
college entrance examination.
On
September 16, she will proudly take her place at Anhui University,
a fulfillment of what would have otherwise been a hopeless dream
for a little girl born into poverty.
Like Su, many children from desperately poor regions have
benefited, or are benefiting from such charitable projects, which
are sponsored by non-governmental organizations.
The government is also making great efforts to help. Major
state-owned banks have been required to offer low interest loans to
university students who could otherwise not afford the tuition
fees. Poor students will also have access to many kinds of
scholarships, exclusively designed for them.
(China
Daily September 11, 2002)