Strange students take exams by… closing their eyes and smelling

(Dan Tri) - Unlike normal exams, in this exam, students experience darkness by closing their eyes and smelling to get data and feelings while doing the test.

This special event took place at the 25th "Good Literature and Writing" contest for the 2024-2025 school year organized by the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City with the participation of more than 150 secondary school students.

Students in Ho Chi Minh City compete in "Good Literature and Good Writing" through experience at Nguyen Dinh Chieu Special High School (Photo: Hoai Nam).

Before starting the exam, candidates will have experiential activities with students of Nguyen Dinh Chieu Special School - a school for blind and multiple disabled children.

After enjoying the singing and dancing performances by the special students, the contestants embarked on a journey to experience the world of the blind.

Candidates will close their eyes, line up and enter the classroom, learn how to write and read Braille. Here, teachers will share with candidates about the health status, characteristics, personality and circumstances of special students.

In class 1/A1/1 (code for the class for students with multiple disabilities), teacher in charge Pham Thi Thuy Hang said that, in addition to hearing impairment, the students in the class have many other disabilities such as cerebral palsy, developmental delay, cleft palate... so caring for and teaching them is very difficult.

Candidates learn about the world of deaf children (Photo: Hoai Nam).

Ms. Hang told about the situation of a blind girl with a cleft palate sitting at the corner of the table whose father also had a cleft palate, giving birth to two children with cleft palates... The father sold grilled corn, selling well one day and not the next.

Or another student has a sleep disorder, he only sleeps at 4am...

"Don't just put yourself in the shoes of disabled children, try to imagine what it would be like if you were their parents or caregivers," Ms. Hang asked the contestants.

The activity that had a strong impact on the contestants was the experience of closing their eyes to experience the world of the blind. The students closed their eyes, touched and smelled objects to name them…

Step by step, entering the dark world, many candidates shed tears when they felt the difficulties and disadvantages of children with special circumstances. Through that, they also discovered things that were different from usual when looking at things with senses other than the eyes.

Students close their eyes, touch and smell objects to perceive the world through a sense other than the eyes (Photo: Hoai Nam).

"When I closed my eyes to experience it, a gift bag was placed in my hand. I was very surprised because normally when I smell flowers, I don't feel the scent there and wondered why people can extract perfume.

However, this time, when I closed my eyes, I could clearly feel the scent of the rose in my hand," contestant Le Nhat Vy, grade 7, Vietnam-America Training School shared.

Right after the experience, the candidates took a 45-minute writing test on the topics of "light from the heart", "feeling life not only from the eyes", "I want to hold your hand", "today's experience and the "I" of the future"...

According to the contest organizers, today's youth mainly perceive life through sight, through the colorful world, through the sparkling images on technological devices, without perceiving through other senses. This can somewhat limit their spiritual world.

In life, beyond the eyes, there are many things that each person can deeply feel from within with the heart and with many other senses.

After experiencing the dark world, candidates take a 45-minute written test (Photo: Hoai Nam).

Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that this is a practical activity that helps candidates have deeper experiences about the life and world of visually impaired students.

Through that, students can do their test with many good messages and can bring students more humane and profound feelings about life.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/ky-la-hoc-sinh-lam-bai-thi-bang-cach-nham-tit-mat-va-ngui-20250109163510512.htm