BBC--  Primary school students at a school in the Chinese district of Shunqing were faced with this question on a paper: "If a ship had 26 sheep and 10 goats onboard, how old is the ship's captain?"

The question appeared on a recent fifth-grade level paper, intended for children around 11 years old.

Pictures of the question, along with students' valiant attempts at answers, surfaced this week on Chinese social media - where it triggered debate and quickly went viral.

Education officials later said the question was not a mistake, but meant to highlight "critical awareness".

"The captain is at least 18 because he has to be an adult to drive the ship," one student answered.

"The captain is 36, because 26+10 is 36 and the captain wanted them to add up to his age," another guessed.

One student however, simply gave up.

"The captain's age is... I don't know. I can't solve this."