School gives out pork as scholarships

A rural middle school in east China has caused heated discussions after its authorities gave students pork as a scholarship prize.

Shiqiaotou Middle School in Zhejiang's Wenling City awarded 45 "excellent students" with "scholarships" during a new school term ceremony on Thursday. The first prize winners each received 2.5 kg of pork, while second prize winners got 1.5 kg.

It's the third year that the school has distributed pork scholarships, according to Wu Guanghui, the school head master.

"We usually give out the meat before Chinese Lunar New Year, but this year we delayed it as the school closed much earlier than normal because of the weather," Wu said.

According to Mr. Yang, a teacher at the school, 84 kg of pork was distributed.

"Our first prize scholarship is 50 yuan (7.60 U.S. dollars), but we changed to pork of the same value," Wu added. "Just imagine -- an entire family can sit together and eat the meat won by their children, they must be proud."

Many netizens think the pork scholarship is "interesting" and "fresh."

"I think it's innovative," wrote one user of microblog Sina Weibo. "When I was in middle school, I once won a bag of washing power."

"It's great, as long as the pork is safe," wrote another Weibo user, referring to a series of scandals in China's food industry. Endi