Students at a university in East China's Anhui province will probably not receive their diploma if they fail a physical fitness test, a type of test that requires students to achieve long-distance running, standing long jump, etc. The test has stirred much debate on social media regarding whether the university's physical education should be a requirment of their academic degree.

The decision was announced by Zhang Xiang, head of Anqing Normal University, during a recent university's sports committee meeting, to encourage students to do more exercises after class, according to Xin'an Evening News, a local newspaper in Anhui province.

According to Zhang, the new regulation will come into force in 2019 and graduates who fail to pass the fitness tests will not be given a bachelor degree in June next year.

However, it is not a one-time test like gaokao, China's college entrance examination. Students who fail the tests before graduation will be offered another chance to retake the test, and if they fail it again, they will have to retake the test after graduation. Unfortunately, graduates who fail to pass the tests will not get a bachelor degree.

According to Zhang, it is rare to see students doing sports in the campus's sports halls and playground as many prefer to stay in the dormitory after class, playing video games or browsing social media apps on their mobile phones, which has resulted in the decline of physical fitness among Chinese university students.

As in previous years, the test includes a physical health check, long-distance running, "sit and reach test," standing long jump, etc. However. There was always a group of students who failed parts of the test each year, according to Chen Hu, a sophomore student at the university who took part in the test several months ago.

"Physical fitness is fairly important, and the PE test score should be included in the college grades," Ma Jingjing, another student in the university said, adding that she would do more exercises to pass the test if the university sticks to the regulation strictly.

However, the university's newly introduced regulation has sparked controversial waves online as some netizens show support while others express their concerns over the decision.

In 2014, the country's Ministry of Education released a statement regarding the regulations on the physical education courses in the universities. According to the statement, the physical fitness test was listed as part of the university's compulsory courses, and students who failed to meet the requirements could not be graduated.