A local primary school in Shanghai is allowing students who don't do well on tests to borrow a few extra marks as long as they are willing to pay them off with interest in the future.

The program was recently introduced by Penglai Road No. 2 Primary School in downtown Huangpu District.

Students who do poorly on a test can ask their teachers to lend them a few points to improve their grade, but twice as many points must be paid back on the next test, assuming they achieve a better mark.

If they don't, interest on the loan, like any other loan, continues to run at 100 percent per test until it is paid off, teachers at the school explained.

For instance, Cai Wenyi, a pupil at Penglai, missed getting an "excellent" grade on a recent math test by one mark. After careful consideration, she decided to borrow the needed point from her teachers.

The debt meant she would have to forfeit two marks on her next test.

"I always felt as if I owed my teacher something after taking the loan," said Cai, 10. "Though my grade was 'excellent', I still felt ill at ease."

To ensure she could pay off her pound of flesh and keep the scholarly shylocks at bay, Cai cracked the books with a new-found intensity and scored an additional 19 points on her next exam, earning another excellent score and clearing up her math-class mortgage.

"The score loan system is a good impetus for student to study hard, which can also help to build up their credibility," said Ji Ping, the school headmaster, adding that 40 percent of students at Penglai have taken out loans.

Penglai isn't the only primary school in the city trying out new exam formats.

A school affiliated with the Shanghai Teachers University decided not to hold any exams at the end of last semester -- a remarkable move in a city where tests play a key role in education.

Students earned marks in their Chinese class by putting on a play, sang a song instead of writing a music exam and simply did some morning exercises to pass physical class.

The school now allows students to get help from their parents during some tests and teachers give comments instead of detailed marks.

The reforms come in the face of changes to the way students enter secondary schools in the city. In the past they wrote entrance exams, with the best students going to the top schools -- a system many critics said put too much stress on youngsters and meant teachers were overly focused on exam results.

(Shanghai Daily February 2, 2004)