A professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology's Zhuhai campus in Guangdong Province, is requiring students to press their fingerprints on a machine before and after class to take attendance, triggering discussion over creative attendance-taking in China's colleges.

A computer science major posted a photo of students giving fingerprints in the math class on his Weibo account recently, shocking his peers, many of whom commented that this will be the death of old tricks for skipping class.

The professor surnamed Zhang who teaches the class could not be reached for comment, but Wang Tong, director of the school, said that professors' teaching and evaluation methods are respected under school policy and that Zhang is popular among students. 

Chinese professors have racked their brains trying to prevent students from skipping class, leading to creative measures such as Bluetooth devices being used to identify the cellphones of students who show up for class, or taking a picture of the class and asking students to tag themselves in it on social network websites afterwards. A professor with Chuzhou University asked his students to refer to him on Weibo as one method of taking attendance.

Though strict measures may be somewhat effective, some professors are not so keen on focusing on attendance. A professor surnamed Dong from the University of International Relations contends that students should make their own decisions and take responsibility for their actions. "It's not important whether you attend class or not. Figuring out what kind of student you want to be is the point," said Dong.

Many college students assert that if professors are confident about their courses, checking attendance is not necessary. Every university has popular classes that students scramble to get seats for, they point out.

Global Times