Institutions of higher education should reflect on the chronic
illness of administrative power prevailing in the academic arena,
says an editorial in China Business News. An excerpt
follows:
Zhang Ming, a professor of politics at Renmin University of
China, was removed as department head and may lose his teaching
position because of his conflicts with the dean of the School of
International Studies. This has been the hottest topic in
education.
So far public opinion is divided due to lack of adequate
information. We hold that the involved university departments
should carry out a thorough investigation to establish the facts
and calm the chaos.
Professor Zhang says the conflicts were not rooted in personal
resentment but were caused by disagreements over the meaning of
"administrative academics". If this is true, we need to reflect on
whether administrative power has become too powerful in China's
academic world. It would be regrettable if a professor has to leave
his university job because of conflicts with his boss.
There are 25 million students of higher education on campus
today.
In this year's government work report delivered by Premier Wen
Jiabao, he mentioned various measures the government has taken to
develop education. In a work meeting last November, the premier
also expressed his concern over producing an increasing number of
qualified personnel. It is not enough to expand enrollment and
increase hardware. The key point should be building an open culture
on campus.
Netizens had a lively response to the premier's worries. Many
mentioned the need to reform the system of educational management.
They wanted more academic power and less administrative power in
education.
On many campuses administrative power prevails over academics.
Academic committees remain dormant while administrative departments
decide almost everything. Administrative power controls the
allocation of all resources.
(China Daily March 26, 2007)