Chinese Teacher Sparks Outrage After Students Have to Count 100 Million Grains of Rice for Homework

One math teacher in Foshan, Guangdong province, China drew outrage from many parents after telling students to count 100 million grains of rice as part of their homework.

The teacher, only identified by her surname Su, instructed her fifth grade students to count 100 million grains of rice as part of a two-day assignment.

However, if they fail to reach the number in the allotted time, they have to continue counting through the weekend, according to Foshan News via Shanghaiist.


Parents called the task torture, considering that it could take one person a whole year or more without stopping for breaks to count three grains of rice a second.

But other people simply looked at the matter as an encouragement for children to think outside the box.

Su only wanted her students to grasp the concept of “100 million.” The teacher hoped that her students would first count up to 100 grains of rice, then continue to multiply that by 10s and 100s until they reach 100 million.


Only 10 of her 40 students reportedly managed to complete the assignment given to them.

Featured Image via Wikimedia Commons / FASTILY (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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