How to reform the school curriculum in China

Liu Daoyu: Ten Opinions on Comprehensively Rectifying Higher Education

At 08: 38 on February 27, 2009, Nanfang Daily printed a comment of 14 16.

Liu Daoyu is a famous educator and chemist, and once served as president of Wuhan University.

There is something wrong with higher education in China. What problem? Mr. Ding Xueliang of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology said: "The problems of the university cannot be completed in seven days and seven nights." In my opinion, the problem of China University can be summed up in one word, which is "chaos".

All walks of life have seen the chaos, including college students, but the education authorities have not seen it. This verifies the old saying: "the bystander is clear, the party is confused." As a bystander, I am willing to solve the confusion for the education leading authorities, hoping that they will listen to some severe suggestions and put them into corrective actions.

The merger of universities in the early 1990s opened the curtain of higher education in China. In the past 20 years, many events have taken place in the field of higher education, such as university merger, education industrialization, building a first-class university, rapid expansion of undergraduate enrollment, rapid expansion of graduate students, upgrading from junior college to undergraduate college, renaming of college, academic fraud, fake evaluation of teaching, movement of building a university town, long-distance enclosure of universities, and construction of luxury campus.

It is worthy of recognition that the number of higher education has improved, the educational funds have increased and the conditions for running schools have also improved. By 2007, the number of college students has reached 27 million, ranking first in the world. The gross enrollment rate of higher education has reached 23%, realizing the popularization of higher education, and some provinces and cities have entered the popularization stage.

However, the one-sided pursuit of high speed has also brought a series of serious problems, such as serious decline in teaching quality, employment difficulties for college graduates, graduate bubble, exaggerated style of study and academic fraud, serious decline in the quality of professors and doctoral supervisors, intensified industrialization of education or disguised industrialization, serious extravagance and waste in colleges and universities, heavy debts, and increasingly serious official standard. ...

Historical experience shows that after a rapid development or great destruction, it usually takes a period of adjustment, which conforms to the law of spiral development of things. However, in the past 20 years, higher education has been rising at a rocket-like speed and has never been adjusted or rectified, let alone consolidated and improved. After long-term observation and reflection, I have put forward ten suggestions for rectifying higher education, and sincerely hope that the top management of the country will make a decision to completely rectify higher education.

First, abolish the self-study examination system.

In short, the self-study exam has become a "smuggling channel leading to a university diploma", and it has completed its historical mission.

Self-taught examination has existed since ancient times, but it didn't begin until 1978 was officially used as a system to obtain university diplomas. Its appearance has its historical background. At that time, the gross enrollment rate of college students was very low, with a national average of only 1.4%, and many provinces and cities were still below 1%. The expansion of enrollment is restricted by teaching resources such as school buildings. Therefore, the self-taught examination is regarded as another channel to obtain a college diploma besides the unified college entrance examination.

From 198 1 to 1983, the self-taught exam was fully popularized until it became the "first exam" in China. Over the past 30 years, 48 million people have consulted and 8.5 million people have obtained college diplomas or above. Undeniably, at that time, when the rate of college entrance examination was very low, the self-study examination satisfied many people's desire to study, among which there were many genuine talents and practical learning, and its historical achievements should be affirmed.

But today, the scale of higher education in China is not what it used to be. The average enrollment rate of universities in China has exceeded 23%. Many provinces and cities have reached the stage of popularization of higher education, and Guangdong Province will reach 78% in 2009. In view of this, I think that the higher self-study exam has completed its historical mission, and it seems that this system should be abolished for three specific reasons: First, since 2006, the self-study exam has been reduced year after year, and it has gradually shrunk. Second, the self-study exam still follows the general academic education and encourages the academic theory. Besides the significance of academic statistics, it can't really improve people's skills and abilities. Moreover, many people's jobs have nothing to do with their majors, and it is easy to get any diploma, which leads to the proliferation of some diplomas. Third, in the specific implementation process, the fraud is serious and the diploma is full of water. Some people even say that self-study exams are "smuggling channels leading to university diplomas". In short, the abolition of the self-study examination system is the need to purify the study style of higher education, strictly implement the university diploma standards and purify the talent market.

Second, cancel the unqualified in-service postgraduate degree.

The elimination rate of doctoral students in western universities is about 30%, while that in China is basically zero. The official boss took the exam to get a degree, and all the way was green.

Originally, the purpose of postgraduate education was to train fewer and better theoretical and research-oriented talents to enrich institutions of higher learning and scientific research departments. This is the universal principle of doctoral education in the world. Until the end of 1980, China still adhered to this purpose.

By the beginning of 1990, the number of graduate students had expanded rapidly, and officials and bosses also flocked to the campus to compete for doctoral hats. The elimination rate of doctoral students in universities in western countries is about 30%, while that in China is basically zero, and officials and bosses have a green light all the way. How can a large number of bosses and officials meet the requirements of doctoral level without attending classes, doing experiments and consulting literature? Many bosses only have high school or even junior high school education, which shows how big the water content of doctoral degree in China is! On-the-job doctoral students alienated and defiled the postgraduate education in China. They buy doctors' hats with high tuition fees, and universities sell degrees in exchange for resources. This is a typical transaction of power and money.

In view of the excessive number of in-service graduate students in China, we must vigorously rectify them. Those who have not participated in the unified and strict entrance examination, have not participated in all the compulsory examinations of the whole class, have not made creative papers, and have not passed the formal thesis defense, should cancel their doctoral or master's degrees. Serious counterfeiters should be investigated for criminal responsibility. At the same time, in addition to universities and academic research institutions, it is forbidden to recruit in-service graduate students from the society.

We must re-examine and standardize the qualifications of degree-granting points according to the functional orientation of colleges and universities. Ordinary universities that are purely teaching-oriented are not allowed to recruit graduate students; Teaching and research universities can only recruit master students; Only a few research universities can recruit a certain number of doctoral students, and each doctoral supervisor can only recruit 1 to 2 graduate students each year.

Doctor is to cultivate few and excellent theoretical and research-oriented talents, but many universities and doctoral students don't understand this truth, and only regard it as an honor and status, as a weight for promotion or job hunting. Now graduate education has deteriorated, and even a doctor of cooking has appeared. At present, there are 365 universities in China that award doctorates, while only 253 universities in the United States have the best and most research universities in the world.

Third, cut off half of the university doctoral qualifications.

Party schools in central and provincial cities are not allowed to recruit graduate students. It is necessary to strictly rectify the universities that award doctoral degrees, and at least half of the universities should be stripped of their doctoral qualifications.

The doctoral degree awarding points in many universities are obtained by engaging in sports and public relations, and recruiting academicians with high salaries. Some even invited provincial and municipal leaders to come forward for public relations. Once you get a breakthrough in doctoral degree, you can publicize it with great fanfare, hold a celebration party and reward relevant personnel. Really do your best. Due to these improper means, some newly-built city universities have the right to award doctoral degrees, and the master's degree program covers almost all majors of the university. Therefore, it is necessary to rectify the university degree awarding points in China, and the party schools, policy research institutes of government departments and applied research institutes of industrial departments in central and provincial cities are not allowed to recruit graduate students. In order to strictly rectify the universities granting doctoral degrees, at least half of them should be deprived of their doctoral qualifications and maintain long-term stability. Ordinary universities should not be allowed to grab positions, let alone any university to engage in the so-called doctoral degree breakthrough war.

Fourth, universities must break away from the so-called "independent colleges"

Independent colleges are not worthy of the name. Private investors hope to use the brands of key universities to attract students to make money, while universities sell brands in exchange for the benefits of "sharing spoils"

1995 The private Sichuan Film Art Academy and Sichuan Normal University jointly established the Film Academy of Sichuan Normal University, which is the first secondary or independent college in China. As of May 2008, there are 326 independent colleges in 30 provinces.

Generally speaking, most secondary colleges are key universities that entered the 2 1 1 project, and even some key universities have set up two secondary colleges. In fact, whether it is called a secondary college or an independent college, it is not worthy of the name. It is said to be a secondary college, not affiliated with a university. It is said to be independent and subject to the parent university. To put it bluntly, their appearance is the result of sharing interests, and they are neither fish nor fowl freaks, but by no means "a major measure of educational reform and development" as the head of the Ministry of Education said. Private investors want to use the brands of key universities to attract students to make money, while universities sell their brands in exchange for the benefits of "sharing stolen goods". Key universities must not do such depraved things, and must be separated from the profit-making of "independent colleges" as soon as possible.

Fifth, let adult education return to vocational education.

Adult education in China is neither fish nor fowl. Recruiting high school students who failed in the college entrance examination is still aimed at college education and has become a channel for universities to generate income.

Adult education originated in Britain. It was born to meet the needs of the British industrial revolution, and has experienced a history of more than 200 years. Britain, known as the "hometown of continuing education", has had a great influence on adult education all over the world.

Adult education in China began in the early 20th century, aiming at simple literacy of adults. In the past hundred years, although the form has been constantly changing, it basically embodies the characteristics of adults. Since the early 1980s, universities have set up adult education colleges, but they have not targeted at adults. In fact, it is to recruit high school students who failed in the college entrance examination, and still aim at junior college education, which has become a channel for universities to generate income, reflecting the "diploma first." Therefore, adult education in China is neither fish nor fowl, which not only interferes with the function of key universities, but also fails to fulfill the real responsibility of adult education. This situation can't continue.

The importance of adult education is self-evident, but it must be rectified or adjusted. The specific way is to decouple the adult education colleges in colleges and universities from universities, and establish several independent adult vocational colleges or adult continuing education colleges according to regions or provinces and cities through adjustment and merger. Such colleges cannot undertake ordinary university education, but can only carry out vocational or vocational renewal and retraining education. This is beyond the power of ordinary university teachers. Professional courses should be taught by professionals with real professional expertise, which truly reflects the characteristics of vocational education or continuing education.

Sixth, stop the university branch.

Running a branch school is often a business speculation. For the location of the branch school, it is to pull the banner and be a tiger skin; For the organizers of the branch school, it is for rich benefits.

1960 s, in the situation of preparing for war, many universities established branch schools, but practice proved unsuccessful. Although some foreign universities have branches, they are completely independent, such as the branch of the University of California.

265438+Since the beginning of the 20th century, with the great development of higher education, some universities have set up trans-regional branches, and some even set up branches from the northeast to the southeast coast. What's more, even the middle school affiliated to a famous university in Beijing has set up many branches all over the country. In fact, all these practices are commercial speculation's actions. For the location of the branch school, it is to pull banners as tiger skins; For the organizers of the branch school, it is for rich benefits. For example, Zhuhai signed an agreement with a university to provide more than 5,000 mu of land to the school for free, so that the university can use the land to recruit students to make money. This practice is a disguised form of educational industrialization and must be stopped.

Seven, rectify the university's science and technology development park and research institute.

Some universities regard the construction of science parks as a means of enclosure. How many scientific research achievements and technical strength do you have? How can you manage three or five science parks?

In order to transform scientific and technological achievements into industries, it is necessary for key universities to set up scientific and technological development parks on a trial basis, but there can be no more, which is too much. Some universities regard the construction of science parks as a means of enclosure. How many scientific research achievements and technical strength do you have? How can you manage three or five science parks? If it is not a show, it is deliberately exaggerated, and wasting national resources is a crime.

Some universities have set up research institutes in various places, and seven or eight have been set up nationwide. As the name implies, an institute is an institution engaged in scientific research. There should be a research laboratory with high-quality researchers to undertake and complete certain research tasks. What are the studies established by some universities in various places now? As far as I know, it is to rely on local alumni associations to hang up a brand of research institutes, which is basically to train and sell diplomas to make money, or to be the reception station of schools. This practice not only tarnishes the reputation of the institute, but also encourages some people to seek benefits by improper means.

Eight, the implementation of professor preparation.

There are many jokes that belittle professors, such as "Professor Cai" and "Dr. Shui", and there is even a dollar to buy jokes of several professors.

At present, there are two main problems for university teachers: one is inbreeding. Many universities have three or four generations under one roof, which seriously hinders the atmosphere of democratic and equal discussion and contention of academic issues among teachers and stifles the creative spirit; Second, the evaluation of professors' titles is seriously out of order, which leads to many professors' names not being true. In the 1950 s, most professors in universities were knowledgeable scholars, whether they were professors of humanities or natural sciences. They were familiar with many foreign languages, poems and songs, and some even had expertise in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. They are deeply respected by people and become role models for students. However, most professors have lost their charm to students because of their incomplete academic qualifications, narrow knowledge, lax scholarship and low humanistic quality.

There are two reasons for this situation: first, a large number of people only seek superficial academic qualifications, degrees and professional titles, and do not work hard to study, resulting in "high reputation, real chaff." Second, universities compete with each other to see who has more professors and tutors, and only pursue quantity, which leads many people to make up for it. There are many jokes that belittle professors, such as "Professor Cai" and "Dr. Shui", and there is even a dollar to buy jokes of several professors. In this regard, those key universities that have the right to evaluate the qualifications of professors and doctoral supervisors are even more impetuous and grandiose, and have not played a good demonstration role.

In view of this, it is necessary to rectify the teaching staff, implement the chief professor system or fixed establishment, and not allow unlimited promotion of professors. Recently, it is widely rumored that the Ministry of Education will abolish the title of professor and implement the teacher 13 grade system. This can't solve the fill-in-the-blank problem, just change the title into a level. At the same time, professorship is an international practice, and the abolition of professorship is not conducive to international exchanges. In the 1950' s, the first or second professors in universities were "rare elements", but now there are 10 or 20 full-time professors and vice presidents in some universities, and some even have professional political cadres who haven't taught for a day. The official standard has reached such a serious level!

Nine, cut off two-thirds of the university press and periodicals, plagiarism will die.

China University's numerous publishing houses and periodicals have become "places that produce academic rubbish", and two thirds of them should be cut off.

In recent years, plagiarism of professors has occurred in almost every key university, including presidents, academicians, deans, doctoral supervisors, professors and doctors. Most universities have dealt with it seriously, but some universities have abandoned it and adopted an attitude of appeasing and nurturing traitors. In some universities, it is obvious that professors plagiarize. Instead of dealing with it, they brag about "zero tolerance for academic misconduct" through the media.

Although public academic fraud is individual, impetuous and grandiose style of study is very common, and "fake projects", "fake arguments", "fake papers" and defense are even more common. China's academic papers have climbed year after year, and it is said that it has surpassed German and Japanese to rank second in the world, but how many original achievements are there? Why has no one won the Nobel Prize in China so far? Why are the world prizes for all first-class disciplines still zero? Now almost every university has publishing houses and periodicals. Anyone can publish a book. How valuable is it? Some people criticize that many publishing houses and periodicals of China University have become "production places of academic garbage". Therefore, two-thirds of university publishing houses and periodicals should be cut off, which is conducive to establishing a rigorous style of study and improving the academic level of universities.

Ten, rectify the gentleman's style, and strictly investigate the financial expenditure of colleges and universities.

Gentleman style is popular, everyone has a car, and the decoration will always be in line with the company boss, but the work style and efficiency are greatly reduced.

How did the 250 billion debts of China universities come about? To put it bluntly, it is the greed for perfection, the pursuit of fashion and the construction of buildings and halls. Extravagance is also an important reason, but the university authorities are unwilling to admit it. Some universities have built five-star hotels, luxury gates and sightseeing elevators, which have been exposed by the media. The original building can be used, and the new one should be built. Some departments could have used one building, but they had to build another building with underground parking and entertainment facilities. Not only the deputy secretary and principal are equipped with special cars, but also the deputy secretary, vice president and assistant principal. Even the retired deputy secretary and principal responsible person are still equipped with special cars, and some department heads are not secretly equipped. Private use of buses is a common phenomenon. Now, not only school-level cadres have luxurious offices, but even the offices of directors and section chiefs are richly decorated, watching the bosses of the company boo. Although the office conditions have been upgraded, the work style and efficiency have been greatly reduced.

In order to curb extravagance and waste in universities, we should formulate relevant laws and regulations, strictly supervise the allocation, expenditure, construction projects and treatment of universities, and hold those who violate the rules accountable.

Rectifying higher education is by no means the above ten aspects, but it is the most important. Grasping these aspects, we can drive all aspects of rectification with an outline. To consolidate and improve the level of higher education in China, we must carry forward the fearless spirit, overcome all difficulties and carry out the rectification work to the end!