How can we make teachers' life better
For the benefit of teachers and students both, we need to clarify through a regulation what is the "proper way" a teacher can criticize students, says an article in China Youth Daily. Excerpt:
The Ministry of Education recently announced class advisers in elementary and secondary schools have the right to criticize students in the "proper way", sparking a debate over teachers' right of criticism.
The Law on Compulsory Education already says teachers have the right of justified criticism. But there's no detailed regulation on what types of criticism are legally acceptable. Teachers' criticism at times turns to corporal punishment, inviting the anger of the parents and the authorities both.
Nowadays, many students are pampered to the point of being spoiled by their parents because they come from single-child families. Such students cannot stand any criticism. Some of them have run away from home or even committed, or tried to commit, suicide after being criticized.
If students resort to such extreme steps, they will put teachers under greater public and departmental pressure even if their criticism is justified. Thus teachers are more likely to refrain from criticizing any student.
Education without proper punishment is incomplete. For instance, if a student doesn't do well in an exam he/she fails, but what happens when he/she doesn't perform well or behave properly in class?
Foreign countries have specific regulations on the punishment that can be meted out to students. For example, the Republic of Korea has a Law of Punishment on Education, which says clearly how students can be punished for breaking rules. In fact, it is a kind of protection for teachers and students both. So it's high time China specified what is the "proper way" in which teachers can criticize their students.
(China Daily 08/28/2009 page9)
