Apart from his legendary contributions in the nuclear arena, the well-known scientist Qian Xuesen posed a challenging question: "Why do our schools always fail to produce outstanding talent?"

Although everyone may have an opinion or two regarding the issue, the common consensus revolves around bureaucratization of education. No matter how anxious we are to see "world-class" colleges mushroom here, it would be just wishful thinking so long as our institutions of higher learning are run like miniature bureaucracies by career bureaucrats.

So, when the authorities recently talked about "de-bureaucratization" of education, it came as a ray of hope, although it was immediately dampened by skeptical college managers.

Stripping colleges of their administrative rankings may hinder them further since Chinese society largely revolves around administration by the bureaucrats, they contended - a point not entirely unjustified.

Yet, the process is destined to be tricky, and difficult.

Even Premier Wen Jiabao has sounded a note of caution - colleges should be de-bureaucratized in a "step-by-step" manner, he said while commenting on higher education reform during his Youth Day (May 4) visit to Peking University.

Since educators themselves remain ambivalent or reluctant, it is anybody's guess as to how long the process will take. The trouble is, if the schools are managed like government affiliates, the idea of encouraging colleges to be professionally run, too, would be unrealistic.

Not that there are no qualified educators in the bureaucratic set-up. But, the way college caretakers are being appointed, it seems people are always put in wrong places.

Administrative authority usually ranks above professional competence in performance evaluation. Under such circumstances, the emphasis seems to be more on being politically correct than thinking independently.