After requiring its students to take the necessary swimming exam online before graduation, Shanghai University became the punchline of jokes. In the aftermath of the city’s Covid outbreaks, the dean’s office at Shanghai University stated on May 15 that undergraduates earning their bachelor’s degrees who are scheduled to participate in a 50-meter (164-foot) swimming exam can do it online from home.
Swimming is considered a survival skill and increases physical health in China, and students at some of the most prominent colleges are expected to master it before they graduate. The decision was taken to ‘guarantee that the graduation process progresses successfully,’ according to the now-deleted text that was screen-grabbed and extensively circulated on social media. To pass the swimming requirement this year, students must complete an online ‘Basic Theory of Swimming’ test by May 29, according to the announcement.
‘Under the current Covid-19 lockdown, courses and facilities at the university, including the swimming pool, have been suspended. We decided to perform the swimming exam online to assure the students’ graduation,’ an unknown dean’s office staff member told the Chinese news source Jimu. However, once the statement was published on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, it was greeted with mockery and laughter.
‘This is simply humiliating coming from a renowned university. How can a theoretical test be the same as a lap in the pool?’ One Weibo user remarked. ‘ Are the pupils expected to swim in their bathtubs?’ Another user said while another wondered, ‘Is it a realistic version of surfing the internet?’ Following one of the biggest outbreaks, which began on April 22, Shanghai city is seeing a slow drop in Covid cases.
Starting on Sunday, shopping malls, libraries, museums, theatres, and gyms will be allowed to reopen, with limits on the number of people. This will be in the eight of Beijing’s 16 districts that have seen no community cases for seven consecutive days.
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