Leading the way

Visually impaired student Wang Yiwen, born in 2000, was admitted to the vocal department of the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music.

Her mother Wang Wei says she understood the criteria to take the exam in Henan province in 2016 soon after Wang Yiwen entered high school.

The province's disabled people's federation said that they could register for the exam normally, while asking the education department to contact the federation after registration.

The two provincial organizations, together with China Disabled Persons' Federation in Beijing, then negotiated and started the procedure to produce the Braille paper for the music theory and solfeggio tests that would take place at the end of 2017 and 2018 separately.

Wang Yiwen took the provincial examination two years in a row, because she didn't make it into her dream conservatory due to a height disadvantage in the first year.

As a result, staff members knowing both Braille and music from China Braille Library in Beijing were dispatched and transcribed Wang Yiwen's answer paper to facilitate scoring.

A member of staff from the education and employment department of the provincial disabled people's federation, surnamed Cui, still remembers Wang Yiwen's case in 2017.

He says that they knew how to cope with the situation, partly because the first case of applying for a Braille test paper in the gaokao took place in Henan in 2014. He implied that other provinces may not have any idea on how to deal with similar situations the first time around.

Other "experienced" provincial-level administrations include at least Anhui, Guangdong, Hubei, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi and Zhejiang provinces, Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Ningxia Hui and Xizang autonomous regions.

During the second year, Wang Wei called other mainstream conservatories asking whether there was a chance for Wang Yiwen to participate in their enrollment exam.

She was rejected many times. Some said they couldn't stop Wang Yiwen from joining the exam, but still they suggested that she not attend.

However, the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music extended an olive branch and managed to provide a Braille test paper.

Taking the test in early 2019, she ended up with the top ranking in the exam. That year, around one in 70 would be accepted for her major at the conservatory.

Ge Deping, deputy director of publicity department at the conservatory's Party committee, says the conservatory did have concerns at first, but seeing Wang Yiwen's persistence, musical talent and professional competence, they thought they should stay open to such an aspiring teenager.

Wang Wei says: "Taking the conservatory's perspective, certainly they would have concerns: How to teach a student when the teachers didn't know Braille?"

She accompanies Wang Yiwen full time and takes care of her daughter's safety on campus.