Class drip-fed energy to save on study time

IT'S the sort of scene that could be seen in high schools across the world, except that the pupils have intravenous drips hanging over their desks.

The image is taken from footage that claims to reveal the controversial use of the drips to boost pupils' ability to study at a school in China. The teenagers were offered intravenous fluids to maintain their health levels as they prepared for June's National College Entrance Exam, reports in China claimed.


The fluids are reported to contain concentrated amino acids.

The concoction allegedly helps with general health, stamina and keeping the pupils calm ahead of their exams. The footage - which was recorded by a student at the school and shows darkness outside during the study session - has already been viewed thousands of times online.

In China, the state grants a subsidy for pupils participating in the exam to visit their school's infirmary if they feel unwell and receive the amino acids through a drip.

In this case, the students were apparently allowed to have the drips in the classroom to save them having to go back and forth from the infirmary and thus lose study time.

School spokesman Gao Pingqiang told the local media: "We're happy to carry on if students want to."

But Chinese bloggers have criticised the use of the drips, with one writing: "It doesn't show that the students are sick, it shows that society is sick."