Chinese school children are being forced to wear microchipped uniforms as part of a crackdown on truancy.
More than 10 schools in southern Chinese provinces of Guizhou and Guangxi require their students to wear the "intelligent uniforms", state-run newspaper The Global Times reports.
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The uniforms allow schools and parents to track the students' movements, while facial-recognition scanners at school gates match their faces with the chips to prevent anyone swapping jackets.
The chips will send out an alert if pupils fail to show up to class, while The Epoch Times reports alarms will also go off if the student falls asleep in class.
The idea came after the Communist Party called for the creation of "smart campuses" - but the technology can extend further than that.
Lin Zongwu, principal of the No. 11 School of Renhuai in Guizhou, said the chips also tracked student's movements outside of school.
And they can monitor what children buy at school shops and allow parents to set limits on their spending.
While the high-tech uniforms have cut down on truancy, many on Chinese social media have expressed concern about the privacy and social control implications.
"It is horrifying. I imagine the parents agreed to this after being brainwashed," one person said on Weibo.
But they also have their supporters, who argue it helps improve security and childrens' learning.
"I think it's alright," wrote Yi Zhi Sirius.
"First, it avoids the jobless and homeless gangsters or potential criminals from entering the schools; second, the uniforms will come in handy in cases of locating missing students."
Newshub.
