She was celebrated as a “genius” for her score in a national mathematics contest. Now, this 17-year-old Chinese girl is accused of cheating.

Jiang Ping, who attracted attention for his stellar performance, had cheated, competition organizers revealed, ending months of speculation about his results.

Introduced in 2018 by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, this free online competition is available to math enthusiasts around the world, although Chinese math students typically take the top spots. This year, the top 85 entrants will receive prizes between $2,000 and $30,000.

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Who is the 17 year old girl?

Jiang Ping, a 17-year-old girl from a poor village in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, ranked 12th among 802 shortlisted contestants in the first round of the Alibaba World Mathematics Competition.

This achievement, announced on June 13 by the DAMO Academy, organizer of the competition, sets her apart, as most of the top scorers came from prestigious institutions such as Harvard, Oxford and MIT.

Jiang became the first finalist in the history of the competition, which began in 2018, from a humble vocational school, according to Chinese media. Most of the 800 finalists tend to come from elite universities, making their success an exception. Her high ranking made her an overnight sensation, with the media and social platforms calling her a “prodigy.”

In China’s famously competitive education system, academic excellence is highly praised, and Jiang’s success inspired many who saw it as proof that vocational school students can also achieve academic distinction.

However, skepticism about his mathematical abilities emerged online.

The rise of a mathematical ‘genius’

The annual mathematics competition, organized by DAMO Academy, is open to contestants from institutions around the world.

This year, Jiang, a student at Jiangsu Lianshui Vocational High School, beat out other finalists from some of the world’s most renowned institutions.

In particular, she chose the vocational school because of her interest in fashion design and because her sister and friends were enrolled there, according to local media.

Jiang’s impressive performance and unique educational background quickly garnered national attention. Her story was featured in a DAMO Academy video and was interviewed by media outlets across China.

“Learning mathematics is difficult, but every time I solve the problems, I feel very happy,” he told the state agency. town newspaper.

“No matter what the future holds, I will continue to learn.”

Jiang’s teacher, Wang Runqiu, also attracted attention, celebrated as an educator who recognized and nurtured her passion for mathematics. He described her as a focused student who had taught herself advanced mathematics.

He said: “I have encountered many setbacks in the process of learning mathematics.”

“That’s why I want to do everything I can to help my students and let them know that there are other possibilities in the future.”

In addition to praising Jiang and her teacher, her story sparked a debate about whether China’s education system sufficiently supports gifted students in less traditional academic careers, especially those whose potential would otherwise go unnoticed.

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So what happened?

Last Sunday, the competition organizers revealed that Jiang had violated the competition rules in the preliminary round by receiving help from her teacher, who was also participating as a contestant. South China Morning Post reported.

“This has highlighted problems such as deficiencies in the competition format and lack of rigor in supervision. We sincerely apologize,” organizers said in a statement.

When the final results were announced on Sunday, neither Jiang nor her teacher were among the 86 winners.

In a joint letter to the organizing committee, 39 other finalists claimed that Jiang “made several apparent writing errors” while solving a problem on a whiteboard in a DAMO Academy documentary video, according to the report.

“She seemed unfamiliar with these mathematical expressions and symbols,” the contestants alleged, suggesting that her teacher had helped her.

While the preliminary round allowed contestants to use programming software, the final round was a closed-book exam. Initially scheduled for August, the final results were postponed for several months and were finally published on Sunday, with Jiang absent from the list of winners.

Jiang’s school also confirmed on Sunday that her teacher Wang had indeed helped her. Wang received a warning and was disqualified from the teacher of the year awards. The school also asked for leniency for Jiang and claimed the need for support, bbc reported.

Following the revelations, Jiang and her teacher faced heavy criticism, however, many social media users defended her, arguing that the primary responsibility lay with her school and her teacher.

“Jiang Ping is not innocent, that is indisputable. But who are the worst at this? reads a Weibo post. “The adults brought this girl to do a bad deed and let her suffer all the consequences.”

“Even if it was all fake, Jiang Ping was not the mastermind behind this,” another user wrote. “They shouldn’t burn her at the stake.”