About a dozen-odd students of a normal school in Hubei province will not get their graduation certificates until they clear their Mandarin exams.

School authorities said 11 students have yet to clear the test.

"Many of our students are from remote mountainous regions and have strong local accents, which is why they find it difficult to clear the Mandarin exam," an official of the school said.

(Xinhua News Agency)

(China Daily 09/21/2010 page7)