On May 12, a protest incident occurred at the 29th Middle School in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. Students and parents raised concerns about suspected cheating in the school’s sports talent admission exam, leading to a collective protest on campus and drawing attention. Some parents expressed that such occurrences are widespread locally, deeming it extremely unfair to the candidates.
According to a circulated video, during the school’s sports talent entrance exam that day, the first-place finisher in the 200-meter race achieved a time of 21 seconds, less than 2 seconds slower than the world record, while the first-place finisher in the 400-meter race clocked 49 seconds, less than 6 seconds off the world record. Due to these results being “comparable to Bolt,” students and parents became disgruntled, believing that exam quotas were predetermined.
In the video, a male student said, “After I finished the 100-meter run, the examiner didn’t even glance at the score, didn’t stop the timer, took something out of a file bag, had you sign for the score, without even writing anything, the score was pre-determined.”
A female student questioned, “How could I receive zero points for deductions?”
A candidate revealed that the first place had long been predetermined, with their family reportedly spending 300,000 yuan for this arrangement.
Another male student mentioned, “The one predetermined openly admitted it, saying, ‘So what if my family is wealthier than yours? If you have skills, then cough up the money’.”
The allegedly predetermined candidate even used a mineral water bottle to strike a questioning candidate who accused him, leading to a chaotic scene.
A parent of a student at the school told the media that this phenomenon is too common locally, with their child’s desk partner participating in the exam, yet a student who ran slower was still admitted. Despite scoring perfectly at their own school, they couldn’t achieve a perfect score at the exam venue they applied to.
According to the Ministry of Education of the Chinese Communist Party, there are two types of special talent students in the middle school entrance exam, in sports and arts, encompassing athletics, basketball, and 15 other sports categories, as well as painting, calligraphy, and 6 other art categories.
This parent mentioned, “If a student is admitted under the special talent category, the high school entrance score threshold is lowered, providing an advantage. For those with poor grades, this is their sole, last resort.”
“Those who possess innate talent and work hard from childhood, still needing family support, are easily surpassed by someone who effortlessly scores full marks due to favoritism. It’s simply not fair!”
Another informed individual disclosed, “Teachers directly altered students’ scores. One student originally completed the run in around three minutes and over ten seconds, but it was changed to three minutes and twenty-something seconds.”
To prevent schools from cheating, this informant had relatives bring recorders to the scene to accurately capture the timing. However, even with this evidence, their child was passed over and not admitted to the 29th Middle School, forcing them to attend another school. “In any case, this school is no good,” stated the informant indignantly.
On that evening, the WeChat public account of “Taiyuan 29th Middle School” released a statement refuting the rumors of “cheating in the sports exam,” claiming that the exam process was entirely recorded, and each student’s scores can be verified through the footage, negating any possibility of cheating. Regarding the first place timings, the announcement clarified, “The best time for the men’s 400 meters is 54″30, and for the men’s 200 meters is 23″92. The claim circulating online about our school’s students achieving national champion levels is false.”
However, netizens refused to accept this explanation, with many taking to social media to question the school.
Jingjing said: “So many children are claiming discrepancies, why continue to make excuses?”
Tianyi suggested: “Why not just have a retest?”
Lucky123 remarked: “The key point is, the cheating students even confessed themselves, saying, ‘I have money and skills, you should pay too’.”
Mowen Guitu wrote: “A child who trains every day is even better than us, who serve in the military! They can now be compared to Liu Xiang.”
Leaping Shepherd commented: “The school is acting as both athletes and referees.”
There were numerous other parents expressing on social media that cheating in special talent exams is prevalent nationwide. A netizen from Handan, Hebei Province said, “The situation is the same here, merely carrying a ball results in a full score. How can anyone reason with that?” Another netizen from Shandong Province said, “My daughter made no mistakes in rope skipping, yet was defeated by someone who erred five or six times!” A special art talent student from Taiyuan mentioned, “Whether in sports or vocal music, there are predetermined candidates in every school. I wasn’t one, and in the end, couldn’t surpass someone who paid money. After all, we are human judges, and can’t find any flaws.”
A parent from Shandong told the media that their child’s physical education score for the college entrance exam was held back, forcing them to now attend cultural lessons as a regular candidate, preparing to take the exam alongside general students.
“The number of unfair phenomena is too high. It’s extremely difficult to find work now, and this situation impacts children’s futures greatly,” stated the parent.