The Guangzhou city government's decision to finance the continuing education of its civil servants from its own coffers has sparked a debate on the legitimacy of using taxpayers' money for such purposes.

The plan to subsidize the degree and non-degree courses of local government staff is contained in a document issued by the Guangzhou Municipal Personnel Bureau. It claims that the move is made to improve the quality of the city's civil servants and make the municipal government more efficient.

"A high-quality civil service team would certainly help build a highly efficient government, improve the city's competitiveness and provide better services to local residents and visitors and tourists in the city," argued an official from the bureau, who refused to be named.

To this end, the municipal government would continue to send senior government officials and executives of state-owned enterprises (SOE) to study abroad while encouraging other civil servants to sharpen their skills via studies in domestic universities and colleges, he told China Daily on Monday.

According to the notice, all of the city's civil servants will receive financial aid if they want to advance their education, beginning July 1 next year.

Apart from overseas studies, financial support will range from 30 to 50 percent of tuition fees. The maximum subsidy is set at 30,000 yuan (US$3,610).

The total cost of studying for a master's degree in China, which takes two or three years, is around 60,000 yuan (US$7,220).

Civil servants will also be allowed to take an extra 12 days off each year to pursue their studies.

While most civil servants support the move, the notice has raised great controversy among local residents, deputies to the local People's Congress and members of the local committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). These groups tend to be highly critical of the decision to use public cash to fund personal studies.

Jiang Bin, a local CPPCC member, opposed spending public funds to subsidize civil servants' continuing education. The decision to pursue further education is up to the individual, Jiang pointed out, adding that it would be unfair for other residents to subsidize this.

Zhu Yongping, a deputy to the local People's Congress, noted that subsidizing the education of all civil servants would be a huge expense that should require the agreement of the local People's Congress.

Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, now has more than 200,000 civil servants. At present, half of them are college graduates.

(China Daily September 7, 2004)