A high school in central China’s Henan Province triggered criticism online lately over a seemingly unprecedented move said to improve students’ productivity and academic performance.

The school decided to take away the seating in the cafeteria, forcing students to eat while standing so that they’ll return to their studies faster. A video which surfaced on Weibo, China’s microblogging site, showed no signs of seats in the dining hall in the high school in Shangqiu City's Sui County.

The video has gathered over 17,000 comments as many were puzzled by why all students had to eat this way.

Students were seen eating while standing in the video. /Screenshot via Weibo

When asked about the whereabouts of the seats, a student who appeared in the video said he didn’t know as he hadn’t seen them since the first day of school.

As it turned out, the school removed the seats on purpose for it believed eating while standing would help cut short students’ lunch break and give them more time to get more schoolwork done, since a few extra minutes can make or break their future.

The move was said to have borrowed experience from other high schools well known for brutal schedules where students start school at 5:30 a.m. every day in order to achieve high scores on Gaokao, China’s notoriously difficult college entrance exam.

In the background of the video, seats and benches were removed from the cafeteria by the school. /Screenshot via Weibo

“Next, we’ll designate a lunch spot at the table for everyone to eat standing on their feet. On average, spending 10 minutes on lunch is enough,” a staff member said.

Some Chinese netizens found that the lack of seats was outlandish and irrelevant to helping students perform better at school, and it might result in the development of unhealthy eating habits among students.

Others also denounced the broader trend of extreme approaches prevalent among other Chinese high schools driven by cutthroat academic competition.

The school said they'll designate lunch spots for every student. /Screenshot via Weibo

“Don't prisoners sit while they eat?” Weibo user @Laoguimeisen questioned.

“I suggest taking away the seats for the school principals so to improve their performance at work!” Weibo user @Lvmaotanzhang commented.

“They’ll probably shut down the dining hall in the second term at this rate because according to their logic, it’ll really improve productivity if no one eats at all,” another user @Dadadadahangyang said.