A new rule at a Wuhan university that punishes students for skipping class by forcing them to clean the dormitories of the opposite gender has social media swept up in debate.
The first to have their acts cleaned up at Wuhan International Culture University was a group of three male students after they were caught skipping class for video games during scheduled nighttime classes on Saturday.
The students were punished with a 20-minute cleanup session in a girls' dorm, which included mopping the floors and wiping down tables for their female schoolmates.
They were only allowed to leave if the dorm's residents were "satisfied with their work," Chutian Metropolis Daily reported on Sunday.
"It was embarrassing to clean up for girls. I won't skip classes anymore," one of punished students said.
Cui Bowen, the head teacher of Media and Arts College who proposed the rule, explained it aims to discourage truancy with old fashioned humiliation.
Cui said the rule has had the desired effect. "We won't skip classes. I don't want to clean up smelly boys' dorms!" a female student said.
Many netizens who identify as male mocked the rule, saying a trip to the female dorms would encourage them to skip class even more. "Is this university still recruiting students?" wrote a Sina Weibo user.
