Probe into intravenous drips for Hubei pupils

Hubei officials are looking into an incident in which a class of senior high school pupils were intravenously given amino acids in a night course in preparation for the national college entrance exam, an education spokeswoman said yesterday.

The bizarre incident, which was exposed when someone posted photos online of the pupils hooked up to intravenous bags on poles, occurred on Friday at the Xiaogan No 1 Middle School and has triggered a public outcry over the hardships that pupils face.

Fierce competition among pupils to secure a university spot has spawned a booming market in everything ranging from dietary supplements to special restaurant menus to hotel deals targeting pupils who would be taking the exam.

Amino acids such as glycine are important nutritional elements and are touted in supplements to help boost one's immune system and fight fatigue.

While stressing that the intravenous injections were voluntarily, school authorities said the programme was a good deal for the pupils, as each injection cost just 10 yuan (HK$12), with the state picking up the rest of the (unspecified) bill.

The school earlier said that half of the 1,000 senior high school pupils were involved in the programme.

But the provincial education spokeswoman, who declined to give her full name, dismissed the possibility of state subsidies being used to fund such injections, and she said an investigation was ongoing.