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A Chinese college has gone to extreme lengths to get its students to come to class.

Meiya College of International Studies at Hunan University has introduced fingerprint scanners in its classrooms to stop students playing truant. The college spent 250,000 yuan (?16,000) last year to install the scanners in each of its 30-plus classrooms, the newspaper China Daily reported.

Students now press a thumb on the scanner at the start of lessons.

Previously, staff took a register but this was time consuming and it was easy to cheat, Hou Lichen, dean of the college, told the paper.

Attendance has risen to 95 per cent since the introduction of the scanners.