Chinese students asked to remember teacher's face and name in final exam question

In big tests students are expected to know every inch of their subject – but an exam question set in China was a surprise for even the biggest swot.

Students at the Sichuan Vocational College of Culture and Communication were asked in an exam this week to pick out their teacher from a set of seven photos and correctly write down their name underneath, reported China Daily.

Those who could recognise their teachers did not get any extra marks, but students who failed were deducted 41 points from their final score.

The question caused raised debate on social media, between those who thought it was innovative and others who said it was nothing to do with the subject.

One student who sat the exam, using the social media handle, liangboxianshi, wrote: "I know all my teachers' names, but I am dumbstruck at this question because I find it difficult to recognise faces."

Another e-commerce student who also sat the test, using just his surname Guo, said: "I got the right answer. Some of my classmates chose the correct photo, but spelled the name wrong."

A third simply wrote: "This question is toxic."

Hu Teng, the teacher at the college in the southwestern Chinese province who wrote the test, said: "This is the first time we have introduced such a question. On the one hand, we want to see whether students have worked hard in class.

"On the other hand, we can also know whether they have paid attention to details. If they can't even remember their teacher's name, then they clearly have no interest in the curriculum."

The teacher added that getting the wrong answer did not necessarily mean a student would fail the course, because the test only accounted for 30% of the final grade, with 70% of the final marks coming from coursework.