Education authorities in Jiangxi province will organize a separate college entrance exam for two high school students who were injured while stopping a knife attack on a bus.

The students were unable to take the national college entrance exam, which started on Saturday, because they are still recovering from their injuries.

Liu Yanbing and Yi Zhengyong, both students at Yichun No 3 Middle School in Yichun, Jiangxi province, were injured on May 31 while trying to stop a man who was hacking passengers with a knife on a bus, Xinhua reported.

Liu suffered serious injuries to his back and head while trying to take the knife. Yi, who yelled for other passengers to help stop the attack, suffered injuries to one of his hands.

A suspect, a 26-year-old local villager, was detained by police two days after the incident.

Liu told CCTV that the man first attacked passengers in the back of the bus, including Yi, and then ran to the front of the vehicle. Liu chased him and grabbed the knife. A video released by CCTV captured Liu's heroic actions.

Tang Sainan, chief supervisor of Jiangxi's education bureau, told Xinhua that education authorities will organize a separate gaokao for Liu and Yi after they have recovered from their injuries.

Gaokao, the national college entrance exam, is the only way for most high school graduates in China to enter a university. It is held nationwide once every year on June 7 and 8.

This will be the first time that Jiangxi's education authority has organized a separate test for gaokao candidates, according to Xinhua.

Yichun government has awarded "good Samaritan" titles to both Liu and Yi, according to Xinhua.

Gaokao candidates with high moral standards, including those with "good Samaritan" titles, receive an additional 20 points to their final exam score, according to the current policy of some regions, including Beijing.

But such a policy does not exist in Jiangxi province, according to Hu Zhaohui, a researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences.

The heroic acts of the two students have attracted much public attention, and thousands of comments have been posted online.

"Universities should adopt preferential polices for them to get admission, as such people are really needed in our society," said one netizen.

Hu said he appreciates the students' heroic actions, but he does not believe they should be exempted from any exam, as suggested by some netizens.

wangxiaodong@chinadaily.com.cn