Answering for Youth and Escorting Dreams - On the First Day of the 2023 National College Entrance Examination

The 2023 college entrance examination officially kicked off on June 7th. The students inside the exam room answer for their youth, while the people outside the exam room escort their dreams. The reporter saw in Beijing, Guangdong, Liaoning and other places that various regions have thoroughly and meticulously carried out the organization of the college entrance examination, ensuring its stability and smoothness, and helping students achieve their dreams.

Gathering Love to Light up the Dreams of Students

On the morning of the 7th, Pan Qiliang, the director of the third year of high school at Beijing Yizhuang Experimental High School, escorted more than 150 students to the examination center. "How many hours did you sleep last night? The college entrance examination is a joyful one!" He exchanged with the students with a relaxed expression.

The reporter saw several teachers holding signs with words such as "calm", "full effort", and "careful" at the exam site of Guiyang No. 6 Middle School, encouraging the students. At the Tianhe Middle School exam center in Guangzhou, the school has set up a sunshade and rain shelter at the entrance, with handwritten blessings from younger students hanging on it.

Before 7 o'clock in the morning, more than ten volunteers dressed in red vests were already busy setting up tents, preparing drinking water, stationery, rain gear, and other supplies in front of the entrance examination center of Liaoning Experimental High School. "Hello, my glasses leg is broken. Is there any way?" Faced with an urgent request from a candidate, volunteer Wang Laiyu immediately took out tools such as tape to help reinforce the broken part of the glasses.

Jin Guo'an, the parent of a candidate from Taiyuan No. 29 Middle School, sent his child to the examination center early in the morning. As usual on their way to school, the father and son spend more time talking about the weather and sports. "I hope the child understands that the college entrance examination is important, but more importantly, it's important to live each day well."

More than 120 candidates from Dachang Middle School in Wushan County, Chongqing took a dedicated bus and departed from the centralized accommodation hotel to the examination room.

Dachang Middle School is located in the hinterland of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area. Due to inconvenient transportation, candidates in previous years had to take a boat to the county town in advance to take the college entrance examination. "Now that the highway is connected to the town, this year students will take buses to the city," said Cao Yang, a teacher at Dachang Middle School. "The road to the exam is very smooth, and I also hope that children can play more smoothly in the exam room and step out of the mountains towards a larger stage of life."

Zhang Yuwei, the homeroom teacher of Class 6 of Grade 3 at Shenyang No. 51 Middle School, distributed lollipops to the students. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Ying

After the first Chinese language exam, Zhang Shubo from Class 6 of Grade 3 at Shenyang No. 51 Middle School ran to the homeroom teacher Zhang Yuwei as soon as he left the exam room. "He performed at his best!" He excitedly embraced Teacher Zhang, his confident smile infecting the parents and teachers around him.

Security check upgrade to maintain fairness and justice in the college entrance examination

Preventing mobile phone cheating is an important part of the college entrance examination security check. The reporter saw that various regions have combined civil defense, physical defense, and technical defense to prevent mobile phones from being brought in, used, or transmitted.

On the morning of June 7th, candidates taking the college entrance examination at the Wushan Middle School examination center in Chongqing underwent security checks through the intelligent security gate. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ke Gaoyang

On the 6th, the reporter experienced the intelligent security gate at the examination site of Taiyuan No. 29 Middle School. It can identify whether the passer is carrying a smartphone, a watch with storage function, and other smart devices. It can also display the specific position of the smart device on the body. On one side of the intelligent security gate, a facial recognition system is also installed, which can accurately identify the identity of candidates.

"Before the exam, the teachers conducted multiple adjustments to the intelligent security check door. Compared with the security check equipment used in the past, it has higher efficiency and accuracy," said Zhai Fuping, the principal of Taiyuan No. 29 Middle School.

Chen Ling, Director of the Enrollment and Examination Office of the Third Middle School in Chishui City, Zunyi City, Guizhou Province, introduced that after passing the security check, candidates need to go through facial recognition, verify their ID card photos, take on-site photos, and register photos in one before they can enter the examination room, and then undergo another manual security check.

"In previous years, we would send exam stationery to students in advance. This year, we will directly place them in their seats. Students only need to bring their ID card and admission ticket to the venue, and they will not take their stationery with them after the exam. They will continue to use it for the next exam," Chen Ling said.

On June 7th, at the entrance of the examination center of South China Normal University Affiliated Middle School, candidates were orderly entering the examination room. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zheng Tianhong

Although multiple examination centers have implemented intelligent security gates and added entry security checks, the reporter learned from the education regulatory department that the time has been calculated in advance and will not delay the entrance examination for candidates. The reporter also saw at some examination centers that candidates would consciously queue up for security checks and enter the examination room in an orderly manner under the guidance of on-site staff.

"By using various means such as technology to strengthen the security check of the college entrance examination, the fairness of the examination is maintained, and children can also take the exam with peace of mind," said Su Quanhua, a parent of a senior high school student at Taiyuan No. 29 Middle School.

Ensure optimization and create a warm examination environment

In order to reassure candidates and parents, various regions have implemented detailed security measures in areas such as public transportation, epidemic prevention during exams, and food and accommodation hygiene, striving to think of every detail and do everything well.

On June 7th, warm reminders such as the weather forecast for the college entrance examination were posted at the examination center of Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone Affiliated High School of the National People's Congress. Photo by Zhao Wan, journalist from Xinhua News Agency

"We have set up guard posts around each exam site and arranged police forces to maintain traffic order," said Sun Xiaotong, a police officer from the Guiyang Public Security Traffic Management Bureau. During the college entrance examination, all mounted police officers will patrol the road surface, not only to maintain traffic order but also to facilitate candidates' seeking help.

The college entrance examination in 2023 will be the first college entrance examination after the implementation of COVID-19 infection. According to the requirements of the Ministry of Education, various regions have formulated examination epidemic prevention plans and emergency plans, and have prepared sufficient backup examination rooms, epidemic prevention materials, etc.

During the interview, the reporter encountered a candidate who was taking the exam in a backup examination room due to fever. The person in charge of the examination center introduced that this examination center has set up three backup examination rooms, and the layout of the backup examination rooms is the same as that of the regular examination room; Medical kits have been placed in all examination rooms, including masks, vomiting bags, protective clothing, isolation gowns, etc.

The exam site of Keqiao Middle School in Keqiao District, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, captured on June 7th. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Gu Xiaoli

"During the college entrance examination, medical institutions near the examination center have opened a green treatment channel, and ambulances are on standby at any time to ensure that candidates with urgent needs can receive effective treatment in the first time." said Wang Tao, Deputy Director of the Medical Affairs Department of the Keqiao District Health Bureau in Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province.

This year, Guangdong provided reasonable convenience for 57 disabled candidates, including one fully blind candidate who used Braille papers to take the exam.

According to Ouyang Qian, the Dean of Guangdong Provincial Education Examination Institute, the three subjects of language, mathematics, and other subjects are uniformly set by the Ministry of Education. Braille test papers for these three subjects are arranged to be retrieved by a dedicated person from Beijing and stored in a dedicated box to avoid crushing the test papers and making it difficult for candidates to touch and recognize Braille; The subject test paper independently set by Guangdong is translated into Braille by a professional Braille typist and proofread by two or more teachers.

"A fair college entrance examination is indispensable. Although we have put in a lot of effort, all of this is worth it," said Ouyang Qian.