LUCKNOW (INDIA) - A UNIVERSITY in India has started clamping down on those who skip classes. And they are the teachers.

On Thursday, the new vice-chancellor of Lucknow University, Professor A. S. Brar, conducted a surprise inspection and found students in the physics department having a gala time in the labs during their practical period.

When he asked why they were shouting and playing around, the students told him that the teachers had not come to take the classes.

The teachers, it seemed, were enjoying the winter sun sitting on the lawns.

According to The Times of India, when Prof Brar took the teachers to task, he was given a 'lame excuse' that the Internet in the department was not working.

The incident has resulted in teachers getting a strict warning, with equally strict instructions issued by Prof Brar asking them to be regular in their classes.

The habit appears to be one that formed some time ago: the previous vice-chancellor had suspended 18 teachers for neglecting their classes.