Inmates in a jail of Haikou city, capital of south China's Hainan Province, will take the annual national higher education examination for self-taught students this month.
Officials of the local educational department said that four examination rooms will be set up in the city's Qiongshan Prison and more than 100 inmates there will take the two-day examination from April 19-20.
The officials said that as more and more inmates have applied for the examination in recent years, they organized the examination in jail on a trial basis last year.
Some of the applicants passed the exams and have been awarded certificates of higher education.
Education in prison will not only help inmates acquire knowledge but also help them make a living after being released, and those who receive a certificate have the chance for a reduction of penalty, said officials with the local prison administration.
In 1981, China launched a national examination system for self-taught students. By 2000, over two million students had passed theexams and received certificates to prove their university-level home education.
(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2003)
