【英文报道】Faking an advantage

Repeated scandals about college entrance examination candidates getting extra marks for fake identity of ethnicity or fake athletic performance has put the policy on grill.

The exposure that many who get such bonus points are children from powerful or wealthy families points to the rampant abuse of power taking advantage of the defected policy.

Chongqing enrollment office still refuses to publish the names of those students who have obtained extra points for fake identity of ethnicity. This has enraged the public, and people have asked for disclosure of the detailed process of how the students cheated.

The policy for extra marks was originally designed to select candidates with talent in a particular field, and also to take better care of students from some ethnic minority groups. The policy was meant to make up for the deficiency of the unified national college entrance examinations in attracting a wide variety of students.

However, the policy of extra marks has turned out to be a channel for abuse of power, which is eroding the fairness of the national college entrance examinations and the very foundation of social justice at large.

An extra 20 or 10 points usually throw several hundreds of candidates behind or enable a candidate, who otherwise would have to go to an average university, to enter a prestigious one. The extra marks sometimes can change the fate of a student.

That explains why quite a number of officials push their children's career by using their clout for the bonus marks. So do some wealthy parents, who pave their way through with money.

In one of the scandals, of the 19 candidates who were awarded 20 bonus points for ship model performance in the city of Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, 13 are children of local government officials. In another case, 25 students,who faked their identity of ethnicity in the city of Shishou, are all from families of local government officials.

This type of cheating is even worse than the dishonest behavior in examinations. Tight supervision at examination sites can effectively prevent cheating in examinations. But this type of cheating is much harder to eradicate because the abuse of power is behind it.

In addition, the rampancy of such cheating is undermining the principles of social justice and fairness. Those who have no way to get such extra marks will likely feel justified to cheat in examinations, which they will consider as their own way to make up for their lack of power and money.

It is good that all officials involved in the scandal have been disciplined and students disqualified for enrollment because of their violations.Still it is high time that enough importance is attached to the damage that the abuse of power in this area has done and will do to the fairness of the college entrance examinations. The education authorities may have to rethink its policy for extra marks.

Probably the scope for the application of the policy needs to be greatly narrowed. At the same time, it must make sure that those who have taken advantage of this policy to push their children's career be punished.

高考考生假造少数民族身份或冒充体育特长生而获得额外加分，这类丑闻近期频频爆出使这项加分政策遭到强烈质疑。通过媒体的曝光我们发现，很多获得加分的考生都是来自有权势或者有经济实力的家庭，他们利用这项政策的缺陷来获得加分。重庆市招办依然拒绝公布由于民族造假而获得加分的考生名单。这使得公众非常愤怒，并要求公开这些考生假造身份的详细的过程。

这项加分政策的初衷是遴选在某一方面有特殊才能的学生，以及照顾少数民族学生。这是为了弥补统一的普通高等学校招生考试的缺陷，吸引多样化的生源。然而，这项加分政策却变成了权力滥用的乐园，使高考的公正性受到影响，甚至侵蚀了整个社会的公正性。通常，20分或10分的加分可以使考生的名次提前几百位，或者令一个本来只能进入普通高校的考生得以进入名牌大学。加分往往能够改变一个学生的命运。这就是为什么一些官员利用他们的权力为他们的孩子获得加分。有经济实力的家长们也利用金钱来为孩子铺路。

其中的一条丑闻是，在浙江绍兴通过航模表演获得20分加分的19位考生中，13位是当地政府官员的子女。另外一条丑闻是石首的25位学生假造民族身份，他们全部来自当地政府官员家庭。此类作弊比考试作弊更加恶劣。考场的严格监考能够有效防止考场中作弊，然而这种作弊，由于其背后存在权力滥用，更难铲除。另外，这种作弊的泛滥正在逐渐削弱社会的公平和正义。那些没有门路获得额外加分的考生可能会认为在考场中作弊是有正当理由的，认为这是弥补无权无势的方法。滥用权力已经对或将对高考的公正性造成损害，我们要对此投以足够的重视。

教育部门可能需要重新考虑加分政策。加分政策的适用范围也许需要大大缩小。同时，必须保证那些利用这项政策来帮助他们孩子的家长们受到惩罚。
(chinadaily.com.cn; July 9, 2009)