Imagine you're a student, attending classes and working towards the requirements of your law or medical degree. Then one day, you're told to get on a bus and report to the local factory to build iPhones. Sure, it sounds pretty crazy, but that's apparently what happened to thousands of young people in Jiangsu Province, China; the site of notorious Apple supplier, Foxconn.

The story originally broke on Wednesday, when The Shanghai Daily cited online posts from a number of students in the city of Huai'an. English and law students alike were driven to the plant last Thursday, where they began assembling the upcoming iPhone for 12 hours a day, six days a week.

According to reports from students, the 'interns' were paid a total of 1,550 yuan, or $243.97, a month. According to Yu Fangqiang, director of the social advocacy group Tianxiagong, many students did not take legal action out of fear their schools would retaliate by barring graduation.

China National Radio quoted local school officials as stating the internships were an opportunity for the young people to "promote individual ability." Out of the $243.97 in monthly wages (roughly $1.18/hour), the students were also expected to pay for room and board.

While the local city government has neither confirmed or denied the allegations directly, Huai'an officials did issue a statement today ordering the schools to follow policy and "correct violations." According to Shanghai Daily, most students returned to school, but students who volunteered were free to stay.

The allegations come just days after an analyst noted Apple may have subsidized recent wage increases at Foxconn. The Taiwan-based company's chief, Terry Grou, announced earlier this year that Apple had coordinated with Foxconn to hire "tens of thousands" of new workers to assist with raised production demands. 

Apparently, the 400 yuan ($63) offered as a recruitment fee by Foxconn this summer just wasn't cutting it with traditional workers.

Apple isn't the only electronics giant under labor scrutiny. Activist group China Labor Watch just released a report earlier this week citing unfair working conditions at eight of Samsung's manufacturing facilities. The allegations charge the South Korean company of utilizing underage workers and forcing extreme overtime, among other offenses. 

We've reached out to Apple for comment on the matter.

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(Image Credit: Liu Jiayi, ZDNet)