Students publicly humiliated in poverty competition  

沈阳大学要求贫困生演讲比穷 得票最高可获助学金

“想申请助学金，交贫困证明还不够，还要在全班同学面前讲家里有多困难，太伤自尊了！”沈阳大学某学院学生小刘自从在同学面前讲了自己最羞于启齿的家境后，常常觉得抬不起头来。“本来不想让大家知道家里困难，可这样一来全班都知道了。说是为了公平，可让我们当众‘揭伤疤’，这对我们公平吗？”为认定贫困生资格，贫困学生需当众演讲接受投票，得票高的才有资格得到助学金，这样的方式对这些学生来说究竟是公平还是伤害？[查看全文]

(ECNS) – For impoverished kids hoping to earn scholarships at a college in northeast China.s Liaoning province, the vetting process is a "humiliating" one, the Shenyang Evening News, a local newspaper, has said.

Poor students seeking scholarships at Shenyang University must give speeches in front of an audience, which includes other students, said Liu, a student from a poor family.

This is the "poor student" scholarship speech competition, in which applicants must talk publicly about how poor their families are.

Liu said she has learned to be independent since she was young and isn't looking for sympathy. "I felt disgraced," she said.

Representatives from the college said they adopted the competition a year ago to make the process "fair and open," but would consider changing the rules if it's hurting the self-esteem of potential students.

In a poll, all respondents opposed the method.

Zou Meng, a counsellor at a Hunan college, said it is not appropriate, as students' public speaking skills are the focus, not their real financial conditions.

Tang Haibo, from the Student Affairs Office of Central South University, said the competition is "an invasion of privacy and lacks human compassion."