'Sudden change' adds to entrance exam anxiety
Police help students to reach examination sites in Shexian county, Anhui province, on Tuesday. (ZHUANG LEI / FOR CHINA DAILY)
When most candidates completed the national college entrance examination, or gaokao, on Wednesday, more than 2,000 others from Shexian county, Anhui province, were only halfway through their papers.
Heavy flooding triggered by torrential rainfall meant the exam, which has a significant bearing on students' futures, was seriously disrupted in the county.
On Thursday, the Shexian students completed their Chinese-language and mathematics papers, two days later than their counterparts nationwide.
I am not welleducated and know just how hard it can be to make a living without having a high level of knowledge, so I hope my daughter can have a good future by succeeding in the gaokao
Bao Jinmei, single mother in Shexian county
The Ministry of Education said on Wednesday morning it had given approval for the county to hold the delayed exams the following day.
Backup exam papers, prepared every year to the same standard and with a similar degree of difficulty as the original ones, were taken by the Shexian students.
Since 1978, when the gaokao was reinstated, there has only been one similar incident.
In 2006, when severe flooding hit Jian'ou, a county-level city in Fujian province, local authorities were given approval to delay the two-day examination by six days. Originally scheduled for June 7 and June 8, the gaokao was taken on June 13 and June 14. More than 4,000 students were affected by the delay.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic this year, the ministry decided in March to delay the gaokao by one month.
A floating bridge leading to No 2 Middle School in the county is set up on Tuesday. (HUANG BOHAN / XINHUA)
The father of a student in Shexian, who only gave his surname of Tong, said his son had not been unduly affected by the delay, adding, "However, I do know that some of the students were unhappy with the sudden change."
Yang Jianxin, a mathematics teacher from Jian'ou, witnessed the flooding in 2006.
On Wednesday, he told China National Radio that the backup papers in Jian'ou were just as difficult as those intended to be used originally, as he had seen both.
As his school is located in a rural area, to sit the exam, the students had to take buses to the county town early in the morning with their teachers, including Yang.
As the 300-plus students and the teachers were on their way, they were halted by a landslide that had engulfed the road.
Although the bus drivers tried to take alternative routes, they found these were blocked by flooding.
Heavy flooding hits Shexian county. (ZHANG YAZI / CHINA NEWS SERVICE)
Bus submerged
Bao Jinmei, the single mother of a female candidate in Shexian, said the county faced a similar situation.
When students and their family members woke in the morning, they found many roads engulfed by flooding.
On Tuesday, the Shexian government said the downpour, which started the previous night, was the heaviest for 50 years.
A female student told China Youth Daily her school sent a bus to collect her and other students, but half the vehicle was underwater and could not move.
Rescue workers sent boats to pick up trapped students, but there were not enough for all of them.
A taxi driver, surnamed Huang, said he returned home at midnight on Monday. There had been quite a lot of rain recently, but the water level in local rivers "was not very dangerous", he said, adding that he parked his cab on high ground to ensure it was safe.
Rain fell in the area throughout the night.
Students take a bus to an exam site in the county. (ZHU LIXIN / CHINA DAILY)
Bridge collapses
The local authorities said many workers were sent to deal with flooded streets, but Huang said he had not received any alert about the situation.
"Everybody now has a smartphone. Why not send us an alert by phone?" said the driver, whose home was quickly engulfed by floodwaters.
Many other areas were affected by the flooding. A 484-year-old bridge in Shexian county, collapsed on Tuesday morning, but there were no casualties.
Some 500 gaokao candidates in Huangmei county in neighboring Hubei province nearly missed taking the third exam in the gaokao on Wednesday morning, as they were trapped by flooding on the campus where they live.
Huangmei police said the students, from Huaning Senior High School, were unable to leave the campus for the examination sites at about 7 am.
Rescue workers quickly arrived to help them, but many of the students failed to reach the sites before the scheduled time of 9 am, according to the Huangmei government.
On Tuesday, the first day of the gaokao, more than 200 millimeters of rain fell in the county－a record, local authorities said.
They added that when they finally reached the site, students who had been delayed were given the standard time of two and a half hours to finish their morning exam.
Students greet each other before entering the exam site at Shexian No 2 Middle School on Wednesday. (SHI YALEI / FOR CHINA DAILY)
Backup site prepared
The Shexian education authorities canceled the two exams scheduled for Tuesday to make alternative arrangements, as two of the sites were left isolated by the flooding.
To guarantee that Wednesday's exams went ahead, the county government prepared a backup site at a primary school the previous evening.
Wang Tianping, head of the Shexian education bureau, said a lot of work had been carried out at the support site. One of the most important tasks was disinfection work as part of COVID-19 control measures.
On Tuesday night, the local government also set up two floating bridges leading to the original exam sites.
Dozens of buses were also readied and sent to areas at risk of further flooding.
Wang said that on Tuesday night students were provided with psychological counseling to alleviate stress.
Yang, the teacher from Jian'ou, said the counseling was extremely important for the students.
Heavy flooding hits Shexian county. (ZHANG YAZI / CHINA NEWS SERVICE)
Slogans shouted
When the students found they could not reach the exam site on time, Yang led them in shouting slogans such as "I am confident, I am self-reliant", and "I will keep fighting, I am not afraid".
After this, they gradually calmed down, Yang said.
Bao, the single mother, said, "Every day during the gaokao, and over the years, I have always encouraged my daughter to succeed in the gaokao."
Born in 1978 and educated only until middle school, the mother added, "I have never spent a single night just hanging out with friends, to ensure my daughter could study well and did not feel lonely.
"I am not well-educated and know just how hard it can be to make a living without having a high level of knowledge, so I hope my daughter can have a good future by succeeding in the gaokao."
Bao said she waited outside Shexian No 2 Middle School as her daughter took every exam.
On Thursday, she arrived at the site before 7 am, even though the Chinese-language exam did not start until 9 am.
The rain finally stopped in the morning, although it was still cloudy.
"After the rain, there will be a rainbow", Bao said hopefully.
