Lack of exercise is the problem, not fitness tests

Nearly 1,000 attendees practice yoga in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province, on June 11, 2016, ahead of the International Yoga Day,which falls on June 21. [Photo/VCG]

A student at Wuhan University in Central China's Hubei province died while doing a physical fitness test on Nov 19. This is not the first time a student has died while taking such a test. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Tuesday:

Physical fitness tests have become high-risk actions for students. As a result, Tianjin University recently asked students to sign a waiver of liability before taking the physical fitness test.

However, this is a questionable practice because in August 2014, the Ministry of Education issued the revised national student physical health standard, which clearly stipulates that students must take a physical fitness test lasting 50 minutes at the beginning of each new semester or they will not be given a graduation certificate.

While the deaths of students taking fitness exams is a concern, so too is the fitness of youngsters. In December last year, according to a report by Hunan University, out of its 20,000 undergraduate students only 19 people achieved an excellent performance in their physical fitness test, 2.85 percent were good or above, while 23 percent failed to pass the test.

In general, students' physical education is ignored in favor of their studies and homework. But with students' physical fitness declining year by year, how long will it be before the examination-oriented education is no longer favored at the cost of the physical well-being of students?