• 480 students were made to take their tests in Linzhou, China, on December 20
• Despite the smog red alert, the exam took place as it had been 'pre-arranged'
• Northern China has been smothered by severe air pollution over the past week
• After the pictures emerging online, the principal was suspended from post 

A school principal in China has been suspended after images emerged of students at his school being forced to take their exams in thick smog.

On December 20, 480 pupils from a middle school in Linzhou, central China, were made to take their tests, reports the People's Daily Online. 

It was confirmed that Anyang prefecture suspended the principal Feng Jisheng after he went ahead with plans to test the students despite the order to close the school from the county's education authorities. 

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The People's Daily have confirmed that the principal has been suspended from his post.

480 pupils from a middle school in Linzhou, central China was made to take their tests.  

According to the local education commission, Feng Jisheng had failed to follow requests for the school to suspend classes on Monday due to poor smog. 

The images were reportedly taken by parents and show the children kneeling in front of wooden stools as they take their rest. 

Over the past few days, schools in Linzhou have been closed due to the heavy smog. Northern China has been blanketed by the poor air conditions with half a billion people affected. Flights were cancelled and people were ordered to stay indoors. 

According to Chinese media, there was also an increase in the number of children admitted to hospital with breathing conditions. Schools were closed during the red smog alert.  

However this school did not close and chose to continue with plans to test the students.

According to reports, visibility was down to two or three hundred metres at the time the images were taken.

Reporters arrived at the scene in the afternoon and upon seeing them outside the school, teachers decided to cancel the exams and grant the students temporary leave.

However one student told a reporter that they had already taken English and mathematics tests and they were due to take a physics exam in the afternoon.

The principal told reporters at the time that the test was organised on the 19th and teachers decided that as it had been pre-arranged, they would go ahead with it.

Many people have taken to social media site Weibo to complain about the school's actions.

One user wrote: 'Why does the school's principal still insist it's not serious? Is he blind?'

While another commented: 'The students may not even be able to read the exam question.'

And one user said: 'Even if you cheat, the teachers can't see it.'