They could not believe it. When the students of a primary school in China received the following question on a math test, they were completely perplexed:

"If a boat transports 26 sheep and 10 goats, how old is the captain?"

This question that seems impossible to solve not only impacted the students of the school but it went viral in the social networks.

It was presented as part of a test for fifth graders who are around 11 years old.

The photograph that shows the question and the different attempts of the students to answer it generated a wide debate that finally made the educational authorities explain why they had raised this question.

Basically the experts explained that it was not a mistake, that it had been formulated to motivate "critical thinking".

The unusual answers

"The captain must be at least 18 years of age because to drive a boat he must be an adult," one child replied.

"The captain has 36 because 26 + 10 is 36 and the captain wanted the number of animals to be equal to his age," another student ventured.

Another student simply gave up.

"The captain's age is ... I do not know, I can not solve this."

In social networks, however, people did not avoid criticizing the question.

"This question does not make logical sense, does the teacher know the answer?" Said a comment on the Chinese social network Weibo.

"If the school has 26 teachers, 10 of whom are not thinking, how old is the director?" Asked another cybernaut.

Others defended the school - which has not been identified - by saying that the question effectively promotes critical thinking in children.

"The point is for students to think, and he has achieved it," commented one user.

"This question makes children have to explain their way of thinking and leaves them room to be creative, we should have more questions like this," said another.

Creative answers

The Shunging Education Department explained that the test was intended to "assess ... critical awareness and the ability to think independently."

"Some surveys show that elementary students in our country lack critical thinking in the mathematical area," the statement argues. 

The traditional Chinese method of education emphasizes that students take note and repeat, known as "learning by heart", a method criticized for hindering creative thinking.

Educational authorities argued that questions like the boat's "allow students to challenge limits and think beyond."

And of course there is always that person who knows all the answers.

"The total weight of the 26 sheep and 10 goats is 7,700 kilos, considering the average weight of each animal," says one of the users in the network.

"In China, if you drive a ship that has more than 5,000 kilos of cargo, you have to have a driver's license that lasts five years The minimum age to have that license is 23, therefore, the captain is at least 28" .