More Shanghai University students than ever before have failed courses and been forced to drop out of school, the Xinmin Evening News has reported.

Eighty-one students failed more than the allowed number of courses over a period of time, even after being given an extra semester to catch up.

University Vice-President Zhou Zhewei said: "This is an effort to rectify some students' inappropriate studying attitudes."

Many other universities in the city said it is quite normal to persuade students to quit school, even such a large number.

Ma Lei, an official from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said students were dismissed every year.

Tong Xuefeng from Tongji University, another top university in the city, said the highest number in one year was almost 100.

"But they are not kept out of university forever," said Ma. "Every year, we see students who had been persuaded to quit come back after taking the entrance examination again."

Ma attributed most of the students' failure to the internet. "Once they have become obsessed with the internet, playing games or chatting online, they stop going to class and stay in internet cafes or their dormitories, day and night."

"Overuse of the internet is becoming a bigger problem for young students," said Wang Shumei, a professor from Fudan University, who is involved in compiling a health education textbook for the city's primary and middle schools.

"More children now have eyesight problems because of computers, and what's worse is they neglect their studies, said Wang. "We have actually included Internet Addiction Disorder, a problem shared by many youngsters, in the health education textbook for the second grade of middle school."

(China Daily January 5, 2005)