Citing an example, she said a student at Shenzhen University helped his classmates cheat on the school's long-distance running program before the fingerprint scanner was initially introduced on a trial basis.

University students across China will be required to have their fingerprints scanned for a two-month long-distance running program, which begins on Nov 12.

Since the new system was adopted by the city to manage attendance, 89,000 students completed the long-distance running program over the last winter semester without teachers' supervision, she said.

All university freshmen and sophomores have to participate in the long-distance running program over the winter, the MOE said in a statement issued in June.

Male students are required to run a distance of 2,000 meters per session, while female students need to cover 1,500 meters. Those who attend more than 16 sessions can receive class credit.

For the program, students have been asked to register on the website yw2000.com, operated by Shenzhen Sunscin Technique Co, which provides fingerprint scanners to universities for free.

The company, however, does not have an Internet Content Provider license, which is required to operate a website on the mainland.

Some students have questioned the choice of a website as the method of registration, expressing the concern that their personal information might be misused.