Bio-Scanners keep students under China college's thumb
Pastor Dale Morgan
Bio-Scanners keep students under China college's thumb*
Reuters
Tuesday, April 24, 2007; 2:54 AM
BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese college has introduced fingerprint
scanners to stop students playing truant, the China Daily said on
Tuesday, but not everyone is pleased about it.
Meiya College of International Studies at Hunan University spent 250,000
yuan ($32,360) last year to install the scanners in each of its 30-plus
classrooms.
"Students are now required to 'check in' to each class by pressing their
thumbs against the scanner," the newspaper said.
Hou Lichen, dean of the college in the central province of Hunan, said
that in the past, teachers would record attendances by taking registers.
However, these were time-consuming and it was easy to cheat.
Attendance had risen to 95 percent since the scanners were introduced,
the newspaper said.
However, not everyone is happy.
Gu Yifan, a first-year student, said she would never skip class,
regardless of whether there was a scanner.
"We are adults. Is it really necessary to control us in this way?" she
was quoted as saying.
Other students said they feared the fingerprint data could be leaked out
of the college and used for other purposes.