Teen who wowed China in Alibaba math contest got help from teacher, organizers say
A vocational school student in China who wowed the public by finishing near the top of a math contest was helped by her teacher in violation of the rules, organizers said.
A vocational school student in China who wowed the public in June by finishing near the top in the preliminary round of a math contest was helped by her teacher in violation of the rules, the organizers said this week.
An investigation found that the math teacher’s assistance broke a rule of “no discussion with others,” the Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition Organizing Committee said Sunday. It wasn’t clear how much of a difference the help made.
Jiang Ping, a teenager studying fashion design, became an overnight celebrity in China when she finished 12th in the preliminary round of the competition, which attracts graduates of top-tier universities including Cambridge, MIT and Caltech.
Blown-up photos of her were displayed on the walls of shopping malls in her hometown in eastern China’s Jiangsu province. Two major universities in the region praised her on their social media accounts.
While the accolades poured in, some people began raising suspicions on social media about a week later. Some noted that not everything looked right on a blackboard she filled with mathematical formulas during an interview with state broadcaster CCTV.
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