|
Chinese educational institutions such as theprestigious Peking University are fostering "delicate egoists" whoare highly intelligent, sophisticated and tactful in obtaininggoals, yet such graduates will pose greater harm to society oncethey hold power, pointed out Professor Qian Liqun at a recentseminar. Within hours, Qian's comment was forwarded over 35,000 times aftera high-profile guest at the seminar posted it onto a microbloggingsite, and it has resonated among many scholars across the nationever since, said China Youth Daily. In the last decade, higher education has continuously grown,changed and developed in China, but the sector is now facing manychallenges, among which widespread material aspirations areunwittingly destroying modern universities, experts say. Education weaknesses Late last month, the Liu Daoyu Education Foundation held a seminaron the topic of "Ideal Universities" in Beijing, where renownededucationists discussed problems that Chinese universities arecurrently confronted with and effective measures to deal with thoseproblems. Liu Daoyu, a famous educator, scientist and social activist, now inhis late seventies, also attended the seminar. Although he is hardof hearing, Liu still offered his thoughts on the weaknesses ofhigher education in China. The former president of Wuhan University is convinced thateducation should be based on mankind's ultimate values, and pointedout five weaknesses in the current system of higher education, notonly at home but also abroad. The first and most fundamental weakness, said Liu, is thatuniversities have been unable to determine either theoretically orpractically the perfect solution to the survival crisis of humanbeings. Other weaknesses include the invasion of utilitarianism ineducation, the spread of fickleness in studies, the blind pursuitof top rankings and the confusing target of educational reforms. In the end, Liu called for a return from material aspirations tothe original simplicity of higher education. Scramble for top scorers Every year, when national college entrance examinations comearound, elite universities begin a fierce competition fortop-scoring students. And for the past three years, as universitiesin Hong Kong have become hotter commodities for mainland students,the competition here has become even more intense. As China's most esteemed institutions of higher education whosereputations are most on the line Peking University and TsinghuaUniversity are continuously the most ambitious when it comes toscooping up top scorers on standardized exams. For years, the institutions have thrown money left and right todraw such students, but some prominent experts argue it is a wasteof money. According to Liu Daoyu, the overdevelopment of an individual'sintelligence for exam purposes may hinder their development inother aspects. Moreover, top scorers are not necessarily morevaluable than those who score favorably or toward the top, addedLiu. A good example is Steven Chu, the current United States Secretaryof Energy. When he was in college, Chu was always around tenthposition in class, while his brother always ranked number one. Yetfollowing graduation Chu's performance was surprisingly excellent,and even better than his brother's, according to China Youth Daily. Zhou Wu, a primary school teacher in Hangzhou, refers to it as the"number ten phenomenon." In most cases, those who are always topscorers in class will not become career elites, but those who arearound the tenth position often have unexpectedly high performancein future study and work. Zhu Qingshi, the founding president of South University of Scienceand Technology of China (SUSTC), supports Liu's opinion, revealingthat the late world-renowned mathematician Shiing-shen Chern (ChenXingshen) advised his students to "not get full marks," but insteadlearn a variety of things in daily life. Pursuit of utilitarianism Many Chinese university students are only concerned about theirself-interests, especially opportunities to study abroad and theirfutures after graduation. To achieve their goals, some studentspractice bribery and ignore moral principles to attain theirobjectives, reported China Youth Daily. Zhu Qingshi said universities should train students in scientificknowledge, common sense, moral principles and proper behavior, notjust award them with certificates. Currently in China, manystudents laze away their university years and learn few things ofvalue, he added. A Chinese student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology said hehad never imagined that university life could be so exhausting; henow stays up late in the laboratory every night, because a singlelapse might result in failure. He said school life at PekingUniversity was much easier, since passing the examinations wouldnaturally lead to his graduation in the end. Many participants at the seminar had similar opinions, and pointedout that many Chinese universities have fallen behind indevelopment and expansion because they have lost the academic rigorthat is essential to universities. Liu warned that the pursuit of utilitarianism will make Chineseuniversities hollow and empty. According to scientific research,funding is not so important; great findings such as Newton's andEinstein's did not require abundant funding at all, said Liu. Purity and simplicity are the spirits universities should have, andstudents should not be seen as raw materials to be shaped along astandardized production line imposed by an educational managementregime, stressed Liu. Last month, the Ministry of Education officially approved thelaunch of South University of Science and Technology of China(SUSTC) as a national education and comprehensive reformexperiment. The university is the country's first "independent"university, which is seen by many as a bold move by the currenthigher education system. I am an expert from hydropower-turbine.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Hydraulic Power Generator , Diesel Power Generators Manufacturer, Francis Hydro Turbine,and more.
Related Articles -
Hydraulic Power Generator, Diesel Power Generators Manufacturer,
|
