In the recent China Adolescent Science and Technology Invention Contest, one of the awards went to a sixth-grade boy surnamed Cheng, who undertook graduate level research regarding rectal cancer. While Cheng was showered with positive social attention, some people raised doubts about his achievements.

Bear in mind that this is not a voice of jealousy, but a cautious one that caught a glimpse of ananomaly in the research log. At first, it seems as if Cheng didn’t even really understand what “genes” are- the most basic building block of the human anatomy. However, throughout the course of4 days Cheng miraculously gained an understanding of PCR technology, a significantly more advanced branch of technology.

“For a child who didn’t even know what a gene is,” said Li Ling, a PHD student ,“it’s impossible for him to fully understand the direct correlation between fragments of a gene and cancer.”Indeed, a lot of the things mentioned in Cheng’s report involved topics considered difficult even for graduate students; it’s very unlikely for Cheng to be able to improve that much that quickly independently.

A day after the scandalbroke, the Kunming Animal Research Division of the Chinese Science Academy revealed that Cheng’s parents are both researchers at the institution, and Cheng has conducted research on institution grounds. This shocking revelation further enhanced the possibility that Cheng had used excessive external help when competing in the tournament.

The final punishment was given on July 15th, where Cheng’s father publicly apologized for his excessive participation in his child’s contest. He claimed the incident to bea misinterpretation of the rules, when the competition explicitly states that “the project report must be done solely by the participant.” Cheng’s award was revoked, and he was banned from entering the contest again.

This has happened before as well, but Cheng just seems to be another repeat of precedents.

Throughout the years, the China Adolescent Science and Technology Invention Contest has been questioned multiple times for indulging academic dishonesty. If proven true, this could bring a damaging social narrative on scientific studies in China in general, since it is the biggest and most prestigious scientific competition for teens in all of China. Precisely because of this, many people see this competition as a pathway for a better education, since the Zhongkao and Gaokao exams both value this contest as a “point adder”.

There’s the motive, what’s the crime.

Despite having imprinted a bad narrative, such acts also violate both the fairness of education and “the purity of technological invention”, the exact cornerstones a contest like this is built on.

As the public are exposed to these repeated mistakes, we can see that authorities are trying to manage the contest with a firmer hand by enforcing better supervision, background checks, and scientific evaluation on project outcomes. The Gaokao system has also prohibited extra marks awarded to winners of the contest in hope to reduce cases of misconduct. Although these means did not exactly lead to a satisfactory end, it is still a step in the right direction.

Mr.Deng Xiaoping once said,“youths are the future of the country, the hope of science”. We are all eager to see a brighter future, as the contest can return to its prior purity.