Military training is a compulsory activity for college students in China. However, a number of students manage to dodge the training regimen, prompting some universities to implement new regulations aimed at reducing absenteeism and improving student fitness.
During Peking University's military training this summer, 1,298 of the roughly 3,500 participants went to the hospital, accounting for 5,649 visits, according to Jiang Langlang, a spokesperson for the school. Most suffered from respiratory infection, sunburn, heatstroke and gastrointestinal disease, the Legal Mirror reported.
Such events are not unique to Peking University. A large number of college students throughout the country fainted during military training.
Low stamina, motivation
"It wasn't that hot during the training, but many students fainted on the first day. More than 50 students fainted the second day," said Chen Chu, a student from Guangdong Industry Technical College.
An official surnamed Li from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports said that the physical fitness of students has been declining for decades.
"Those born in the 1990s are less fit than those born in the 1980s, who were less fit than those born in the 1970s," Li told the Global Times.
In light of this, the number of hospital visits during training may be due not to overly rigorous exercises, but rather students' poor stamina.
"We will be granted leave if we can provide documents from a hospital," a student from Beijing International Studies University told the Global Times.
Many students are not in shape and have difficulty making the grade.
"I feel I look like an 80-year-old granny when I climb the stairs. College military training is exhausting," a student at Xiamen University posted on Weibo, China's Twitter-like site.
Absenteeism during military training is rampant among students. A training instructor at a university in Wuhan said that nearly half of students were absent during morning training sessions, according to the Wuhan Evening News.
Many schools require students to wake up at 6 am, undergo several training sessions throughout the day, and go to bed at 8 pm. While training regimens vary from university to university, most sessions include marching, standing in formation, and shooting lessons, with some running.
Many students go to great lengths to get out of training.
"I did a wonderful thing today. I didn't feel liking going to training, and I pretended to be sick. I finally got away with it when I cried," a college student in Chengdu posted on Weibo.
A student at Jilin University of Finance and Economics whose online name is Lulu0926 offered to pay 100 yuan ($15.90) per day to someone willing to impersonate her and fulfill the training, according to chinajilin.com.
Winds of change
Recently, the Arts & Sciences College of Sichuan Normal University began requiring students who do not participate in training sessions to copy out 20,000-word military theory texts in a bid to prevent able-bodied students from skipping. The measure has met with mixed reactions from students.
"Our college has a team of supervisors making sure we're in line. Students who ask for leave have to copy military texts by hand, and those who are caught smoking during breaks have to copy a 100-page booklet of college regulations by hand," a freshman surnamed Ma told the Global Times.
Another student surnamed Li said that the policy makes sense, as the college has no other way to prevent students from playing hookey.
In response to the declining physical fitness of China's young people, Chinese government agencies have jointly launched the Proposal on Strengthening School Physical Education, and it will be issued soon, the China Youth Daily reported earlier this month. The proposal states that students' physical fitness will now be part of the criteria used to evaluate universities, given equal weight with academic standards, scientific research and faculty.
Li, from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports, applauds the measure. "Schools should open more sports facilities for students, who in turn should improve their attitude toward sports and overall health."
Based on the new proposal, the updated university evaluation system will publicize the results of students' physical fitness tests, aiming at improving the quality of physical education in universities.