Applicants to art college majors face challenges due to pandemic

BEIJING－If it was not for the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, Li Haiyi would have already received confirmation letters from some of the Chinese art colleges that he had applied to. But right now, he is making video clips on exam assignments given online by the art schools.

The Ministry of Education issued a notice in March asking the country's colleges and universities to use off-site methods to examine applicants for art majors for their professional skills. The move is to prevent any large-scale gathering and flow of people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Normally, the art schools arrange independent on-site exams to appraise the applicants' professional potential, before the annual national college entrance exam, known as gaokao in Chinese.

"I had booked tickets in advance for on-site exams at the schools that I had applied to, but they have changed their admission rules. I won't make the trips. The schools admit either on gaokao scores without having on-site exams or require us to create videos as an examination via online platforms," says Li.

He applied to major in photography, film and television production and visual communications at a number of art colleges and universities in Beijing as well as Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces.

He says the change in rules brought more uncertainties to his college dream. "I feel rushed to comply with the new admission rules. I should prepare myself for the worst and a potential repeat of my graduating class for another year," he says.

The prospect of jobs in China's booming film and TV industries has driven more students to sign up at art colleges, considered as incubators for the nation's film stars. Prestigious art schools used to have long queues when applicants waited their turn for annual on-site exams.

More than 1.15 million students have applied for art majors across the country this year, according to the ministry's statistics.

The Communication University of China has opened online admissions for 23 majors and directions. The school's expert teams are evaluating videos submitted by candidates online.

Candidates are asked by the university to shoot videos using just their smartphones, rather than professional equipment, to ensure fairness. It forbids makeup and any special or modifying effects. "Video works should keep the original images and audio, and no postproduction is allowed," it says in the online examination notice.

Yan Leifan, chief of the university's admission office, says the university received more than 21,000 applications this year, a slight increase over last year.

"It is difficult to identify cheating in online exams. This may be a common problem faced by all art schools this year," he says.

The university will require some re-examinations two weeks after gaokao to compare the results with the online entries in order to check for cheating, he says.

Chen Zhiwen, a member of the expert group of the National Education Examination Committee, says that, in addition to using technology such as face recognition, education authorities have cooperated with the public security departments to carry out strict identity screening for art school applicants. Face recognition is required before online video examinations can commence.

Xinhua