In the national college entrance exam, gaokao, this year that was organized in early June, some provinces, including Hunan, Liaoning, and Hainan, have taken concrete measures to provide conveniences for exam takers with disabilities.
The measures include opening exclusive exam rooms and granting longer exam times, 1.3 times that of the exam takers with no disability.
The China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF) chairperson, Zhang Haidi, pointed out that more than 10,000 students with disabilities attend college each year. The rational institutional convenience opens a barrier-free channel for them to pursue education.
Zhang noted that people with visual impairment have been obtaining masters and doctoral degrees in recent years.
It is estimated that more than 10,000 people with various disabilities taking part in gaokao this year have benefited from the arrangement. Colleges admitted a total of 57,500 people with disabilities from 2016 to 2020, 50.1% more than in the previous five years. The number of college graduates with disabilities in China rose to 25,023 last year, a record high.
These measures are taken in accordance with national regulations on people with disabilities taking part in gaokao, which was jointly issued by the CDPF and the Ministry of Education in 2015 and revised in 2017 to ensure fairness of the arguably most important exam in the country.
