School defends puzzling primary school maths exam question - but could you answer it?
Students at a primary school in China have been left stumped after a bizarre question appeared on their Grade Five maths test.
The pupils, aged between 10 and 11, at a school in Nanchong, Sichuan, were asked to work out the age of a ship’s captain if there were 26 sheep and 10 goats on the vessel, Chinese news site SCOL reported.
Puzzled students tried their best at answering the seemingly impossible question, offering a range of responses.
“The captain should be at least 18 years old because a minor is not allowed by law to operate a vessel,” one pupil said.
“The captain is 36 years old. He is quite narcissistic, so the number of animals corresponds to his age,” another answered.
An image of the question has since gone viral on Chinese social media site Weibo with many slamming the school's choice of testing.
"This question makes no logical sense at all. Does the teacher even know the answer?" one user asked.
“The question has nothing to do with mathematics ... It doesn’t test the pupils’ ability to understand maths,” another wrote.
But the Shunqing Education Department has moved to defend the maths problem, saying the question examines "critical awareness and an ability to think independently".
“The role of education is not to produce standardised spare parts," a statement on January 26 read.
"Each answer can reflect a different personality. A question that can have different answers is a good question,” it said.
The department pointed to repetitive learning used in most Chinese classrooms, adding that such questions would allow students to "think outside the box."
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One Weibo user had done his homework and managed to come up with the most narrowed down answer of the lot.
"The total weight of 26 sheep and 10 goat is 7700kg, based on the average weight of each animal," they wrote online.
"In China, if you're driving a ship that has more than 5000kg of cargo you need to have possessed a boat license for five years.
"The minimum age for getting a boat's license is 23, so he's at least 28."
