Photos of Chinese Students Cramming for Exams Hooked to IVs Spark Controversy

[n2doc]

It appears in China the saying “study till you drop” is taken quite literally by some, as photos show students receiving amino acid IV drips as they hit the books during late evening studying session for college exam.

You thought you were studying too hard? Well unless you’ve ever needed intravenous medication to keep you from passing out or collapsing due to excessive studying, you have it pretty good compared to these young students at a high school in Xiaogan, central China’s Hubei province. Photos taken late one evening, and posted on popular Chinese site Sina Weibo, show a brightly lit classroom full of students studying National College Entrance Exam, commonly known as “gao kao”. Students appear buried among piles of books, with dozens of IV bags hanging from lines traversing the classroom.



Uploaded only two days ago, the photos were shared by thousands of students and went viral on the Chinese interwebs. Asked about the situation,Mr. Xia, director of Office of Academic Affairs, said the IVs only delivered amino acids to restore students’ health. “The state grants a 10-yuan subsidy for amino acids to each graduating senior that will participate in the gao kao(National College Entrance Exam). Any student that feels not well can go to the infirmary and take amino acids on the IV drip,” Xia said. And because the school infirmary was already full of students in need of medical attention, the school thought they’d arrange IV drip sessions right in the classrooms , to help students save time, instead of having them run back and forth between infirmary and classrooms.

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http://www.odditycentral.com/news/photos-of-chinese-students-cramming-for-exams-hooked-to-ivs-spark-controversy.html

[Warpy]

1. Students in pre revolutionary China up to the 1920s

would tie the long braid that was standard at that time to a hook in the ceiling so if they fell asleep, their hair would pull and awaken them for more studying.

Chinese exams have always been pretty brutal propositions, their higher education being allotted only to the top 2% of test takers, the next few percentage points being slotted into civil service jobs and everybody else dismissed either to do the whole thing over again the following year or accept their lot as ordinary workers.

[Ezlivin]

2. Replace the books with tools and you're looking at our future under Republicans

If they had their way they would roll back ALL worker rights and protections.

I am so glad I had the fortune of being born here; life in China looks brutal at times.

[leftyohiolib]

3. this smells like last weeks diapers: because the school infirmary was already full of students in

need of medical attention, wow, full?
the school thought they’d arrange IV drip sessions right in the classrooms , to help students save time, instead of having them run back and forth between infirmary and classrooms. that's alot of students needing alot of medical "attention"

[Joe Shlabotnik]

4. How effective is 'extreme studying' anyway.

How supple can the brain be after endless hours of physical exhaustion. Simply memorizing things may get you passed tests but is forgotten quickly and contributes little to learning. But then again, I guess this is more about competition than learning. Sadly some will mistake this as dedication and meaningful work ethic and wonder whats wrong with our kids.

[surrealAmerican]

6. You are right, of course.

It's not about learning; it's about competition. The pressure on these poor students must be horrible. My guess is that, if they don't do "well enough", they have very few options for a decent life.

[hedgehog]

5. "Hunger Games" by any other name.....