There's no stopping special-needs student from pursuing marketing degree

A 21-year-old man who has a genetic disorder earned 21 points in the exams and wants to pursue a marketing degree at City University.

Yang Letian is among 14 students with special education needs at two Red Cross schools who took the exams.

Yang, from John F Kennedy Centre, has duchenne muscular dystrophy characterized by muscle degeneration and weakness due to the alterations of a protein that helps keep muscle cells intact.

He needed an extra 75 percent time allowance to complete every exam. Yang also needed help from a software that converts his speech into text as he has slow handwriting speed. Yang scored 21 points from four core subjects, Chinese and English, maths and liberal studies, as well as two elective subjects, physics, and business, accounting and financial studies.

Yang said he would like to thank his "parents for their unlimited support."

At HKRC Princess Alexandra School in Lam Tin, three disabled Hong Kong athletes will be able to enroll in degree programs through the student-athlete learning support and admission scheme.

Chan Ho-yan, a member of the boccia team, scored 23 points from the four core subjects, history and BAFS, and will study accounting and finance at Polytechnic University.

She has congenital hypothyroidism which causes weakness to her limbs.

Chow Long-ho, who has cerebral palsy, is a member of the fencing team and received an offer from Lingnan University's cultural studies program.

Yuen Wing-ki, an osteogenesis imperfecta patient and a table tennis player, will follow her sister's path to study animation and digital arts at Lingnan.