http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/10/support-for-blind-university-aspirant-turns-to-censure/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0# Li Jinsheng, a massage center owner, was among the first blind people to take the "gaokao," or nationwide university entrance examinations, after the government, in a major turnaround in April, allowed blind people to do so. But Mr. Li says he failed. "It went badly," he said by telephone from his home in Zhumadian in Henan Province on Tuesday. Then he hung up, apparently too upset to say more. Chinese news media have been abuzz with the tale of Mr. Li, 46, who reportedly handed in mostly blank papers after the two-day examination last Saturday and Sunday taken by about 9 million high school students, unable to cope with the form of Braille it was presented in. Many people have been deeply unsympathetic, said his friend and supporter Huang Rui, a lawyer at the Boyang Law Firm in Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan, and a disabled rights advocate.
"They're saying he brought disgrace on blind people, that it was a waste of state resources," Mr. Huang said by telephone. "People have been very critical of him." "But I think he was a path breaker," he said. "What we need now is many more people to carry forward what he started. Otherwise, handing in blank papers like that, well, he becomes a joke of history." In an profile in April, Mr. Li was jubilant, preparing to take the test and hoping to study law, after decades of being denied the chance. At the time, he said, "If I fail the exam, never mind, I just have to try." Said Mr. Huang: "If he'd done well, he'd be everyone's favorite now, there would be publicity about him and praise. But he didn't, so he's under a lot of pressure now. "Chinese people don't look at things from a rights point of view. They look for the result. And a lot of people feel he's made blind people lose face, including blind rights activists. "I'd estimate only about 10 percent of people support him right now," Mr. Huang said. "But I feel he's a person who knows what's right and what's wrong. And he was brave to try this." Disabled rights advocates have long argued that education for blind people in China is very poor, and have called on the government to improve it. Perhaps presaging Mr. Li's experience, Mr. Huang warned at the time that it was good that the government was finally offering blind people an opportunity to take the examination, but that with the entire educational system for the blind "a blank page," it was only the beginning of much-needed change to enable them to truly participate in society. The government's about-face was abrupt, coming just two months before the examination, and contained in a document that ordered the change but didn't spell out any special training or preparation courses for blind people who wanted to participate. The document, "A Notice Regarding Doing the 2014 General Gaokao Work Well," ordered education authorities across China to "actively take measures to offer disabled people equality in applying for and taking part in the university entrance examination. When blind people take the examination, they should offer them examination papers for the blind," which could be in Braille or electronic form, and "offer the help of specialized staff." The paper Mr. Li faced was in Braille, said Mr. Huang, and he had trouble with it. On his Chinese language and literature paper, instead of answering the set questions, he wrote: "Please provide an electronic version of this paper," according to Mr. Huang. "He found Braille difficult and had practiced on an electronic version. But to be honest, I'm not sure if he would have passed those ones either. His English is pretty nonexistent, and his math is not that great." Write A Comment -- Avinash Shahi M.Phil Research Scholar Centre for The Study of Law and Governance Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi India Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
