[Editor’s Introduction: Dissent among university students has long been a top source of concern for China’s ruling authorities. On October 31st China's education minister Zhou Ji was demoted amid widespread dissatisfaction with the system. That day China Central Television reported "eight malpractices in China's educational sector" including school enrollment favoring the wealthy, arbitrary fees, rampant plagiarism, and huge resources allocated to a few students to achieve high exam scores. Meanwhile, in the official Nanfang Daily’s self-evaluation poll this week Guangzhou officials in charge of education awarded themselves 98 out of 100 points, while counterparts from nearby cities, including Shenzhen, gave themselves scores between 90 and 100. Coupled with growing frustrations, the high scores catalyzed a wave of online public outrage. This CRM is dedicated to domestic pressures building around this most critical issue.]
November 5:
On October 29th over 1,000 students of Gansu Construction Vocational Technical College staged the largest demonstration in Gansu Province in twenty years. They held banners and marched in the main streets of Lanzhou, the provincial capital, to express their dissatisfaction with the fees charged by the school, its cafeteria’s sanitary conditions, drinking water quality, the living conditions, and inflated prices at the student grocery store. Over 1,000 police officers guarded the protest route and when some students tried to storm the provincial government offices armed public security police repelled them leaving at least 10 injured. Authorities finally sent buses to the spot to transport the demonstrating students back to school, the Hong Kong Information Centre for Human Rights reports.
November 7:
The South China Morning Post published a scathing critique of China’s primary school education system. The newspaper revealed a variety of false facts in textbooks concluding that “legitimising Communist Party rule often comes at the expense of the truth.” Little is offered about suffering during the Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution, annexation of Tibet, purges in Yan’an, and the 1989 Tiananmen protests are described as “disturbances.” Teachers cannot select class textbooks; instead, local officials purchase texts from official publishers. Some teachers are pushing back but “if an independent-minded teacher wants to tell the students the other side of the story, he or she risks a dip in exam performance. Only standard answers and viewpoints in accordance with the communist version of history earn scores in tests and the all-important college entrance examination. There are no marks on offer for solid argument or analytical skills.” The problem, according to the SCMP, is caused by the “government's obsession with shaping people's thoughts. The earlier the brainwashing takes place, the deeper the message sinks in, so textbooks form the perfect tool to equip mainlanders with suitably patriotic and correct thoughts.”
November 10:
On November 5th hundreds of teachers from two private high schools in Chengdu, Sichuan called a strike this week to protest about low salaries. For instance teachers at the Chengdu Experimental Foreign Languages School, a former State-owned school, have not had a pay raise in seven years. An official in Chengdu Municipal Education Bureau downplayed the incident and said the government was in talks with the teachers and their employers in a bid to end the walkout. "It's only a labor dispute between teachers and the group,” he said in comments carried by Reuters. On November 9th the schools resumed operation although none of the teacher’s demands were met. The Bureau told teachers to return or it would replace them, the official China Daily reports.
November 16:
American universities are enrolling a new wave of Chinese undergraduates, according to the annual Open Doors report and The New York Times. China sent 98,510 students stateside last year, a 21% increase. Previously interested only in graduate science departments, now increasing numbers of Chinese parents are investing in their one child getting an American college education. One book getting huge play in China, “A True Liberal Arts Education,” describes education at small American liberal arts colleges and the concept of liberal arts, both largely unknown in China. “There’s growing disposable income in China, and not enough good universities to meet the demand,” said Mitch Leventhal, Vice Chancellor for Global Affairs of The State University of New York. “In China, studying in the United States is a great differentiator, because when students get home, they speak English.”
November 18:
Several Chinese universities have banned kissing. The Nanjing Forestry University hired about 100 student guards at 100 to 200 yuan ($14.6 to $29) a month for two-hour daily shifts. The university “petting police” have caused a furious internet debate on forums at leading Chinese websites, such as Sina.com and Sohu.com. The interruptions sometimes led to angry confrontations and on one occasion, school security guards were forced to intervene to prevent violence after one couple war disturbed. "The school authorities should learn to respect students' rights and freedoms," said one netizen who’s comments were carried in the official China Daily.
[Editor’s Note: The reporting of web chats in the official press is noteworthy and reflects the relative and growing influence of Chinese netizens.]