Senior high school graduates from quake-hit Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture will face an admission score threshold 10 points lower than the provincial average, said education authorities Monday.

The Ministry of Education plans to enroll three hundred more ethnic minority students from Yushu in 2010 compared with last year, said Wang Luwei, head of the College Admission Office in northwest China's Qinghai Province.

"Of the three hundred, two hundred will be accepted by universities while the other one hundred will be accepted by junior colleges," said Wang. Some 1,023 senior high school graduates in Yushu sat China's national college entrance exam on Monday and Tuesday despite the devastation caused by the earthquake on April 14 that left 2,698 people dead, including 199 students.

Zhuang Zuocan, a senior who lost his father and home in the earthquake, pulled himself together and focused on his studies - "Before the exam, I visited my father's tomb and vowed to enter a good university to make my father proud," Zhuang said.

"I really appreciate the help offered by the government and the people after the quake. I will be strong and calm while taking the exam," said Kunga Lhamo, a Tibetan senior high school graduate.

The high school seniors resumed their studies in tents on April 23, only nine days after the deadly earthquake.

(Xinhua News Agency June 8, 2010)