More than 300 boys go under knife in mass circumcision at school (photos)

– Hundreds of schoolboys went under knife in a traditional mass circumcision

– The painful ceremony took place at a school in Marikina city, the Philippines

– Five years ago 1,500 boys were circumcised to enter the Guinness Book of Records

This week 300 pre-teen boys underwent a bloody procedure of a mass circumcision as part of a traditional rite of passage into manhood.

A youth grimaces as a doctor in the Philippines carries out a circumcision operation

This year the boys were circumcised right on the top of classroon tables at school in the city of Marikina, the Philippines.

Schools are often converted into makeshift operating theatres to enable as many circumcisions as possible

Commonly more affluent parents opt to have their children circumcised as newborns in hospital.

A boy pulls a face as his classmates also undergo circumcision

However, the majority prefer their sons undergo the tradition at around 5-7 years of age.

They would either go to government-sponsored missions, hospitals, or to a local circumciser.

A father comforts his son a nurse performs the operation on his foreskin

That’s why the Philippines government sponsors an annual circumcision session provide the service for free and ensure safe practice.

School desks were converted into operating tables for the mass circumcision in Marikana City

The practice is so popular that in 2011 more than 1,500 boys underwent surgery as an attempt to set a world record but their bid was rejected by the Guinness Book of Records on ‘hygiene’ grounds.

Fathers and mothers accompany their sons as they wait their turn for the operation

According to the World Health Organization data, circumcision can reduce the risk of heterosexual men getting HIV by 60%

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