China: Hundreds of Tibetan university graduates protest exam bribery scandal
| Publisher | Radio Free Asia |
| Publication Date | 8 January 2015 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Asia, China: Hundreds of Tibetan university graduates protest exam bribery scandal, 8 January 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/54b794ba6.html [accessed 1 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
2015-01-08
Updated at 12:30 p.m. EST on 2015-01-09
Officials in a Tibetan-populated county in northwestern China's Gansu province have manipulated the results of employment exams in a corruption scandal that may hinder some university graduates from landing government jobs, sources said.
Tibetan students and parents protest at Luchu county offices, Jan. 7, 2015. Photo courtesy of an RFA listener.
Hundreds of parents, university graduates, and other students have been protesting over the scandal in front of government offices in Luchu (in Chinese, Luqu) county in the Kanlho (Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture since Dec. 28, appealing for help in addressing their concerns, a local source told RFA's Tibetan Service.
They finally met with senior county leaders on Thursday, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"But no major decision was made, and there was no clear indication that the issue will be resolved," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
University graduates had discovered after exams in October that their tests "were mishandled," with top-graded papers sold in exchange for the poorer results of other students by certain Chinese officials "in secret," the sources said.
Tibetans living in the area have estimated the value of stolen exam papers at about 200,000 yuan [U.S. $32,188], the source said.
On Wednesday, hundreds of parents, students, and graduates had also sought a meeting with the county governor and waited the entire day for him to arrive, another source said, "but no one turned up."
"They said that even if the graduates had received good marks on their exams, these would be no match for the higher grades shown on stolen papers" presented by other applicants when applying for employment.
"They complained that the selling of exam papers and the swapping of graduates' names on test results has put them at a disadvantage in competing for jobs," he said.
Protesters vowed to bring their complaints to the attention of central authorities if necessary, and voiced distress at the "indifference of county officials to their welfare and concerns," he said.
Reported by Lhuboom for RFA's Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story mistakenly identified the stolen exams as high school graduation exams.
Link to original story on RFA website
