Microblog helps students evade exam in Chinese university

If you have 1,000 followers on microblog Sina Weibo, or have an original post forwarded more than 50 times, you might be able to skip your final exam, a Chinese university professor tells his students.

Zhang Chunlin, with Sichuan International Studies University in southwest China's Chongqing, recently caught nationwide attention for inventing novel rules regarding students' final exam.

In his blog, Zhang decreed a student could apply for exemption from the final exam provided his blog received more than 2,000 hits, with at least 20 "valuable comments" from different netizens since Nov. 17. All of this, of course, should be based on punctuality for the course "Electronic Community and Internet Survival," Zhang said.

The case caused quite a stir on the Internet, evoking a sense of "jealousy" among many.

"I wish he was my teacher," said one Weibo user.

Zhang said after he wrote the rules for bloggers, a number of web users misinterpreted it, with many thinking students can evade the examination "as long as they have enough followers or frequently update their posts."

"The rules were set to enhance students' ability in an Internet era, rather than simple refreshing of Weibo posts," Zhang told Xinhua.

Despite controversy, students loved the new rules.

Zhang Bin, a freshman at the university's Journalism Department, said Zhang's novel way is far better than memorizing a spate of book texts.

"We learned Internet knowledge during classes, and the new rules are another form of exam to test our practical abilities," Zhang said.