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Reformers sack idle teachers in Universities
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-12-28 09:08
A shakeup in higher education - some call it an earthquake - is under way as
university reformers demand that professors deliver not just a quota of papers,
but articles with high original intellectual content and also conduct
significant research.
No more lazy professors is the objective. High-quality scholarship, no
plagiarism and no more tenure by the numbers seems to be the trend. But there's
a long way to go in reforming an entrenched system.
In the latest example, 45 professors at northeast China's elite Jilin
University were fired in November for poor performance. Experts said Jilin
University's reform may lead to a nationwide revamp of the higher education
system and more competitive mechanisms will be introduced in a market socialist
economy that emphasizes high performance.
In Jilin, the professors had held the posts of "tutors to doctoral students,"
considered a badge of honor and a sinecure, basically a lifetime post with
benefits and few actual work requirements.
The university said they had failed in their performance appraisals. Experts
called it "an earthquake in China's higher educational reform."
The appraisal requires those who tutor doctoral students hold high degrees
themselves and conduct valuable and significant research. The Ministry of
Education opposes such de facto status, arguing that retaining the post requires
regular appraisals.
Because of tenure, some professors become complacent and reluctant to
undertake original research. Some even abuse the post to make money, education
officials say. There was no elaboration but professors have taken money from
students for high marks.
Qiu Shilun, vice president of Jilin University, said the 45 dismissed
professors themselves got failing grades academically for academic performance,
articles and research.
At prestigious Beijing University, 49 associate professors qualified this
year to tutor doctoral students and lecturers in history, education and foreign
languages, under a reform plan.
Academic attainments are assessed on the number of theses and articles
produced, not on their quality. Many academics are so busy churning out
papers that they have little time to think deeply about the subject matter, said
Zhou Qifeng, president of Jilin University.
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