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Fudan University noted it would soon change its internal evaluation system to make sure professors would have a "correct understanding" of China's social and economic problems.
Opinion
Mr. Shangkong
by George Chen
Mr. Shangkong
by George Chen

A 'correct' understanding of education in China

Outspoken or liberal university professors on the mainland could be punished for their views

What is the purpose of education? Why are parents so keen to send children to top universities? What can our students really achieve with the help of education? The answers to these questions could be very colourful but there is only one I believe many of us will very much agree with.

At Yale University where I have been selected to join a fellowship programme, the answer to the question about the purpose of education is simple and deep. Many Yale professors agree that the core purpose of education is to make everyone a better citizen.

Last week at least three top universities in mainland China - the historic Peking University in Beijing, Shanghai's Fudan University, which is well known for its journalism school, and Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, named after the founding father of republican China - vowed to strengthen ideological control over students and teachers, state media reported.

Our graduates may have little understanding of what being a good citizen really means

This piece of education news didn't grab enough attention from international media, which were probably busy enough with bigger events such as China's continuing anti-corruption campaign and bumpy US-China and China-Japan relations so far this year. Fudan University noted it would soon change its internal evaluation system to make sure professors would have a "correct understanding" of China's social and economic problems.

Chinese professors who are outspoken about political problems in China or hold liberal views are believed to be heavily monitored and could be punished. If our university professors are so fearful that they simply stick to "correct understandings" of China based on whatever the ruling Communist Party believes is correct, many young graduates on the mainland will soon grow into so-called "patriots" who vow loyalty to the party but may have little understanding of what being a good citizen really means.

Last week I went to a lecture on the American presidency. The professor praised US presidents who made significant contributions to American society and also talked about "insignificant presidents" in US history and why they disappointed the American people.

If a similar course is taught at Peking or Fudan University, what will our Chinese professors say about Mao Zedong or Hu Jintao's achievements and failures?

What is the "correct understanding" for Mao who founded Communist China but also put the entire country at risk of collapse during the horrible Cultural Revolution? Now I ask you, how correct are our top universities on the mainland about their "correct understandings" of the past, present and future of our country?

 

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: A 'correct' understanding of education
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