By Wang Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-22 10:17

Zhang Yaqiu, a senior high school student from Mianzhu, 15 km south of quake epicenter Wenchuan, sits in a makeshift tarp tent in Yinghua square and has her face buried in textbooks and notes she dug out from the rubble.

The student is preparing for the coming national college entrance examination.

Since the quake hit Sichuan province on May 12, Zhang has been worrying about the exam, scheduled from June 7 to 9, because she lost most of her study materials.

But she cheered up earlier this week when she heard that the annual exam would be postponed in 40 quake-hit areas in the province, including her city.

"It's good news for those of us who have endured such overwhelming turbulence in our life," Zhang said.

"My biggest wish now is to find a teacher who can help me with my studies."

Zhang said her classmates and teachers were scattered all over the province following the disaster.

"Fortunately, none of my classmates died as our lesson had not yet started when the quake hit. Most of us were in the playground or on the way to the classroom," she said.

Zhang's family members are also well, but she lost her home and school.

Classes in the city have not resumed as aftershocks have been hitting the area.

The Ministry of Education has announced that the annual national college entrance exam, considered a crucial life-changing event for Chinese high school graduates, will be postponed in 40 quake-affected areas in Sichuan, including Dujiangyan, Pengzhou, Shifang, Maoxian, Beichuan, Qingchuan and Wenchuan.

The new date for the examination has not been set.

The joint move by the ministry and Sichuan authorities was made to "ensure the safety of students and safeguard their interests", ministry spokesman Wang Xuming said.

Students orphaned or handicapped from the earthquake will be exempted from tuition fees and receive living subsidies if they are admitted to colleges, he said.

The ministry will also provide free vocational trainings for those who fail to be admitted.

Similarly, the Sichuan government has started providing free textbooks and teaching materials for quake-hit students.

Sichuan vice-governor Li Chengyun said earlier this week that the provincial government will cover university tuition for children who were orphaned by the quake, if they are enrolled into colleges in the future.

For orphans who do not enter universities, local authorities will send them to secondary technical schools to learn skills, cover all their school expenses and help them find jobs after graduation.

A number of enterprises have also donated money to help build new schools in the affected areas. TV set producer Changhong Group provided its training center to be used as classrooms and gave funds to build a new middle school in badly hit Beichuan.

Some universities and colleges have also made concessions to candidates from Sichuan.

The Harbin Institute of Technology announced that examinees from the 40 affected areas will get 10 extra bonus points if they apply to the school.

The China Agriculture University and the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics also said they will provide extra subsidies and scholarships for admitted students from the quake-hit areas.

Peking University's recruitment office, Liu Mingli said the university will offer free clothing, USB computer disk drives, gym cards and cinema tickets to students from quake-hit areas who will enter the campus this autumn.

Li Aoxue contributed to the story