Students and teachers could be graded higher under a controversial scheme to make blood donation part of an index for judging distinguished academic performers.

Beijing Municipal Health Bureau has ordered all colleges to score donors when accessing outstanding teachers and students, sparking a widespread debate online, Beijing Times reported Monday.

However, many have questioned the requirement, saying blood donation should be voluntary and not forced with consequences.

"If one is not qualified to donate blood because of health problem, does it mean he or she is unqualified to be a distinguished person?" wrote netizen @MatoLant.

A critic on cnhubei.com said the move was forcing people to donate blood and infringed the rights of students and teachers.

Liu Jiang, director of the Beijing Blood Center said, "the blood center will not force college teachers and students to donate blood. Besides, it's not the only standard to judge a teacher or student."

Statistics from the Beijing health bureau showed blood donation in the past six months dropped more than seven percent over the previous year, after five years of continuous growth.

Nationwide, blood shortages emerged at the end of 2010 and the trend has become more evident in a number of regions.