As the days for China's entry into the WTO get nearer, talks about education, which seemed not to be very imminent, are warming up. The comparison and analysis of the global education system have finally come to end up in a competition of human resources, and further a bout of comprehensive strength between nations. In this global education arena, how will China's education perform to avail of its advantages by shaking off its detrimental dregs?
Zhang Li, director of Education Development and Research Center of the Ministry of Education said that at the time of China's entry into the WTO, the pressure upon the improvement of education in China is unavoidable. The imminent matter is to get prepared with relevant researches and demonstrations to get into the rut before the talks on education start, and revising related regulations.
The terms on education service in Article 13 of the GATT have it that all member countries of the agreement have the rights to engage in the competition for education of commercial nature including education and training of whatever forms at all levels apart from the education thoroughly subsidized by the government, Zhang further explained. The ways for participation in the competition can be of long-distance education, foreign venture offices, loosening policies on going abroad and free flow of professional talents. Among the 143 WTO members, only 40 countries have signed this agreement with 30 of them having a limited opening of their own educational market.
The relevant regulation is extremely good for developed countries that have the superiority in the fields of talents, information and management, and that have the surplus of educational resources. For they can use this to fight for the peak in the world economic development, thereby winning the war in touting for more talents.
To a developing country like China, although the inflow of foreign capital can help enlarge the educational resources, catalyze the nurturing of new-type talents and hastening the forming of a new mechanism in education, thus speeding up the development of education information, China is yet facing a rigorous challenge.
Zhang gave an example, among the annual 110,000 assigned members of American three-year term H-1B visa for luring foreign expertise and technical staffs, China takes up more than 10,000, ranking the second in the world. The rate of going abroad for postgraduate study in Beijing area has increased to currently 14% from 7%, and the loosening of restriction will certainly lead to a brain-drain.
What's more, opening China's education market under the circumstance when regulations and policies are incomplete will result in the occurrence of contradictions of sovereignty in education, educational concepts, traditional culture and management.
The relatively laggard education industry such as in the fields of teaching instruments and equipment, books, software, stationery and related products will suffer from severe impact.
Zhang said that due to the situation, China's education circles should draw on the experiences of the 40 countries that have joined education GATT to set up a relevant institution for coordinating and harmonizing the procedures of the related departments before the entry into the WTO. The thing of same importance is that the legislation work is of a great imminence.
Zhang said that China is currently not qualified to sign the GATT agreement on education. He estimated that China would have the possibility to open a limited market on education within five to 10 years.
Speaking of the relation between China's entry into the WTO and the ongoing educational reform, Zhang said with regard to the fostering and making use of talents, the system for talent-employment has a direct influence on the forming of talented resources. University graduates working in public-run offices and foreign-owned or joint-venture companies perhaps behave totally different at their work.
Fact shows that economic operation system plays a decisive role in stimulating and attracting talented people, stirring up their creativeness, awareness in competition, credibility and legal conception as well as professional ethics. The forming of the special characteristics of these new-type talents finds roots in market economy. Therefore, the WTO is not only a formless yet powerful spur but also a fertile soil for cradling and nurturing talents.
Merging of universities and reforms of management system, courses, teaching system, all these are motivational ambience for the improvement of China's education and fostering of high-quality personnel in China.
(People's Daily)
