Enthusiasm for pursuing academic degrees has been popular in
China's political circles recently. Certainly officials who receive
on-the-job education and enrich themselves deserve encouragement
and promotion. But apparently, some of them have obtained their
degrees in a short period via personal power and public funds,
under the auspices of certain higher educational institutions.
Experts regard the counterfeiting academic credentials by
officials as corruption. This behavior impairs the academic
atmosphere, fosters an official's misconduct and further undermines
the social foundation of credit and fairness.
A classroom full of secretaries
Since the 1990s, the central government has raised their
standards for cadre appointments. Younger officials with higher
education levels and specialized knowledge have been promoted to
key posts.
The Provisional Regulations for Selection and Appointment of
Party and Government Leading Cadres, issued in February 1995,
stipulated that leading cadres generally must hold a vocational
college or higher educational degree, and those provincial or
ministerial cadres should have a college or higher educational
degree.
In January 2006, the Organization Department of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) further clarified
that the local chief cadres should consist of young officials aged
around 45 with a college or higher education degrees.
Meanwhile, the Organization Department also underlined the
implementation of a standard that may allow some flexibility.
However, many local officials seem to be using academic credentials
as a stepping-stone toward quick promotion.
"I'm busy with administrative affairs; I simply cannot spend
much time to study," complained a deputy head of a county in Hunan Province. "But without an academic
credential, you will not be promoted no matter how great your
achievements."
The deputy head also recalled his political career. He has
received a vocational college education and formerly served as a
Party secretary of a township for years. There he watched
helplessly as his less capable colleagues who held higher academic
degrees get promoted. "I had no choice but apply to the provincial
committee's Party school. The year after my graduation, I was
promoted to my current position," he said. "I know this is not a
real diploma, but it's really useful."
Other local officials have had the same experience. Some have
even obtained academic credentials via personal power and public
funds.
"There are a variety of ways for officials to wangle a diploma,"
said a teacher in charge of post-graduate education in a college.
"Usually, officials will show up a few times during enrollment,
examinations and graduation. Their secretaries sit for them in
classes. Sometimes, teachers are lecturing to a class full of
secretaries."
A secretary revealed that he was assigned to fill in for his
boss in class. "I will return to my unit when my boss graduates. My
performance during these two years of study will pave a positive
road for my own future development," he said.
"Officials obtain diplomas by asking their secretaries to act as
substitutes and by bribing supervisors with public funds. It is an
open secret," said Li Chengyan, a doctoral advisor from the School
of Government, Peking University.
Since the central ministries have stricter cadre election and
appointment procedures, such "questionable academic credentials"
are more popular during local promotions. In some poor rural areas
of western China, a handful of cadres, including county Party
secretaries, county magistrates, even director of police station
are often awarded "Master of Economics" or "Master of Law".
Statistics showed that by the end of 2006, 9.9 percent of
110,000 college education credentials submitted to the National
College Student Information and Career Guidance Center for
authentication were "questionable".
Former vice governor of Jiangxi Province Hu Changqing, who was
executed for corruption, had bought a diploma of "Bachelor of Law"
near the noted Peking University. He even called himself "a talent
of Peking University" and a "law professor."
Ma Xiangdong, former vice mayor of Shenyang, Liaoning Province, also obtained a master's
degree during his tenure. It was reported that all his essays
submitted to courses at the Central Party School were composed by a
group of his secretaries.
Unveiling the interest chain behind false academic
credentials
Experts attribute this long-standing corruption phenomenon to
the worship of higher education by cadres seeking election.
Moreover, the interest chain connecting officials and educational
organs also opens a door for false academic credentials.
Driven by economic interest, some colleges and universities open
"express courses" for officials. Some even receive financial aid
from provincial governments after issuing diplomas to cadres of a
certain level.
"Most of local officials attend post-graduate courses for higher
degrees," said a teacher in charge of post-graduate student
enrolment. "Post-graduate classes offering on-the-job training are
not authorized to confer a degree. But some universities and
colleges ignore academic stipulations in lieu of potential
profits.
"Such classes may charge a student 20,000 to 30,000 yuan
(US$2699-4048) a year. The schools don't give invoices to students
in order to avoid paying taxes. Then the huge surplus gets
distributed to the staff as a bonus."
In 2004, several senior officials of the Hainan provincial Party
school were punished for a diploma scandal. The school had issued
thousands of "questionable diplomas" by the end of 2003.
On the other hand, some officials who care more about their
faces choose regular post-graduate courses. But, compared to other
students, they don't have to take entrance exams seriously.
"The secret of passing exams lies in the student's relationship
with his supervisors," revealed a secretary who confessed that he
had manipulated such a relationship for his boss. "They will leak
exam contents if you have 'good communication channels'."
When asked about officials' "questionable academic credentials",
some teachers said that they had no alternative but compromise.
"Every year when the enrollment begins, I will be requested to give
special attention to certain officials," said a college teacher in
charge of enrollment. "Among those special 'students' are cadres in
charge of research funds and projects approval. Our school needs
their support. We cannot afford to displease them."
But other teachers hold different ideas, saying that enrolling
powerful official students is a win-win situation for both parties.
"Apart from convenience in applying research projects, colleges and
universities will probably raise their reputation," said another
teacher. "Many colleges like to boast about their sparkling
alumni."
Impairing social credit basis
The Chinese government has been tightening the punishment for
officials caught using false academic credentials in recent years.
In October 2004, the Organization Department of the CPC Central
Committee disclosed the results of their two-year investigation:
among 670,000 cadres above county level, there was one
"questionable academic credential" among every 40 persons.
"This investigation storm cracked down on the scandal for a
time," admitted Professor Li Chengyan. "Unfortunately the
phenomenon has surfaced again. The government must establish a more
permanent mechanism."
Recent scandals including those in Portuguese and South Korean
political circles have again attracted the public's attention to
domestic officials' "questionable academic credentials".
"Forging academic credentials impairs the image of cadres, even
that of the Party," said a staff in charge of cadre election.
A retired cadre criticized those officials for deceiving the
public, adding that a false education level possibly reflects false
administrative achievements.
Experts think the activities of such officials also impair the
reputation of the education system. "A college campus should be
innocent of bribery and graft," said an expert, adding that such
scandals may trigger a credit crisis and impinge on justice.
Punishment system needed to permanently harness the
unhealthy practice
"It's a positive trend to pay attention to officials' academic
credentials during cadre elections," said Mao Shoulong, dean of
Department of Administrative Management, Renmin University. "But on
the other hand, we should evaluate a cadre based on his or her
capability."
A lawyer from Beijing suggested establishing pertinent
supervisory systems to curb the unhealthy practice. "We could set
up supervision systems that encouraged the public to report an
official's misconduct. Moreover, a more severe punishment system
could sound an alarm to other officials who might be thinking of
misbehaving," the lawyer said.
An anonymous cadre called for the government to establish an
approval system that would inspect government officials' expenses
and study performances during their on-the-job training.
"If the whole training process were made public, it would reduce
the amount of false academic credentials to some extent," noted
Professor Qi Shanhong of Nankai University.
(Translated from the Outlook magazine for China.org.cn
by Huang Shan November 11, 2007)