Education was one of the most popular subjects of discussion at the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The release of the National Outline for Medium and Long Term Educational Reform and Development (2010-2020) just before the twin sessions to solicit public opinion till March 28 was partly responsible for that.

Many people expect the document to pave the way for education reform, for it addresses almost all major areas of education. But Zhang Ming, professor of politics at Renmin University of China, doubts whether education reform would be fully successful even this time.

Zhang is known more as a critique of the education system. Three years ago, he publicly criticized the bureaucratization of the school he was employed in, and even said China's colleges were like yamen (traditional Chinese bureaucratic organization). That not only sparked a heated debate on the Internet, but also turned him into a commentator on education.

The new document has good intentions, Zhang says. But he is not so optimistic about the education system being reformed by applying traditional methods. And though China has been exploring different paths for years, it is yet to find the right way.

Because of the rapid economic development of the mid-1990s, education took a "great leap forward", but it turned out to be unsuccessful, he says. The reform campaign hastened the industrialization and "administrativization" of the education system, drawing severe public criticism. The transformation of the education system from Soviet-style to American-style is still far from complete. But in the process, the quality and fairness of education have suffered seriously.

The crux of poor educational reform is the lack of internal power, because people with vested interests may be unwilling to give up what they have earned from the current system. Besides, adopting the top-down administrative method for education reform is tantamount to taking the old path of "administrativization", which ultimately would be fruitless.

Zhang says the key premise of reform is openness. Only by opening up the education system can we solve its problems. But he prefers a gradual process of reform instead of implementing opening-up policies directly in schools.

The authorities should start pilot schools under an openness scheme in some developed regions and authorize some qualified social sectors to run them in a non-bureaucratic way, he says. It will not only create healthy competitiveness in the education system, but also promote reform in traditional schools. Competition will force the schools within the system to improve their performance and standard - a process that has proved very effective in the economic field.