Hong Kong students with special educational needs reveal challenges of studying for university entrance exams
- Student Wong Tsz-shing says he used special equipment to read revision materials and studied extra hours to keep up with classmates
- Pupil Joyce Lam says she squeezed in studies between hospital check-ups and sneaked in revision during physiotherapy sessions
As students across Hong Kong received the results of their university entrance exams on Wednesday, Wong Tsz-shing recalls waking up one time at 4am to study with his friends before school started.
The 18-year-old, who has albinism, a lifelong genetic disorder that leads to low vision and restricts the body from producing melanin, said he used a special camera placed above his computer monitor to zoom in line by line on the past papers he studied for this year’s Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams.
“Now, even though I look at my report card on the desk, I cannot read anything,” said Wong, who has 10 per cent vision.
The student from Ebenezer School, for pupils with visual disabilities, achieved a total score of 27 points with a 5* in Chinese History and an A in Japanese from the “Other Language Subjects” category in his Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams.
The DSE is scored on a scale of seven levels. The highest mark is 5**, while the lowest is level 1.
But Wong said achieving such a score took a lot of hard work and long hours of studying.