A female cleaner carries a student across the flooded area in Liupanshui Normal College on Thursday. [Photo from Sina Weibo]

College students who were carried by middle-aged female cleaners on their backs across the rain-flooded campus have come under criticism.

Photos published by chinanews.com show several female cleaners carrying students through a flooded area in a school. The report said that Liupanshui Normal College in Liupanshui city, Southwest China's Guizhou province, was flooded after a heavy rain on Thursday.

The school deployed cleaners to set up benches in the water and help students cross the water.

After the photos were posted online, internet users criticized the students for being lazy and childish.

"If they cannot overcome such a small challenge, how will they overcome the bigger challenges later in life?" asked one web user.

"It is understandable that female students wanted to be carried across the water. But what a shame for the males," said another web user.

However, one cleaner, Cai Qun, said carrying the students was not a big deal as she considers the students just like her own children.

Students of the Liupanshui Normal College walk on a makeshift "bridge" to cross the water. [Photo/Chinanews.com]