JINAN, Shandong: It's a sunny Thursday afternoon. Teacher Sun should be teaching physical education, just as she has for the past 14 years. But now she sits idly at the side of the sports field, watching her students running around the track, guided by her colleagues.

Sun was recently suspended from her post after a critical work appraisal, even though she once gained numerous honours and awards for her teaching. The most frustrating aspect of her suspension was that she was rated "not in favour" by her students.

"It is humiliating. I have never been through such a nightmare," Sun said sadly, with a puzzled air. "I mean, how could the school suspend me just because the kids don't like me?"

The unusual sacking came after the school authority of Jinan No 7 Middle School in Shandong Province began to include student assessments of teachers in the annual teacher evaluation that determines who will stay in their posts the next academic year.

A few of the universities in China have tried this, but it is an unprecedented practice in a middle school that has spurred debate on whether children are "spoiled" by having too much say in school affairs. Middle school students usually age from 13 to 18.

Another 14 teachers also failed the evaluation and were transferred to less important posts such as librarian and student-dorm administrators for one academic year.

School President Yin Shoufeng said although the evaluations take into account research ability and students' exam performances, like all schools in China, most of the 15 teachers were sacked for their "grave ratings" from students.

"Students should have a say in deciding whether a teacher is qualified. Without granting them this right, it is hard to talk about mutual respect or equality between teachers and students," he said.

Chinese schools, like schools in other parts of East Asia, are known for teachers having absolute authority over students, a tradition passed down from Confucius' time about 2,000 years ago. Students show absolute obedience to their teachers, accepting scorn, public dressing downs, and even corporal punishment.

But the tradition, which is believed to help Chinese teenagers record better academic achievements than their Western peers, is crumbling as China opens up and develops notions of student rights, experts said.

Wei Wei, dean of the education department at the elite Shandong Normal University, said she welcomed the idea, as it goes in line with China's recent school reforms aimed at instilling some equality into teacher-student relations by granting students more say in class.

In the eastern city of Qingdao, misbehaving children in middle schools are allowed to request a hearing before being punished, if they feel they can reason things out. Students in Wuhan, the capital of Central China's Hubei Province, are entitled to argue with their teachers on penalty measures if they break school rules.

"You can see that school teaching reforms initiated by the Ministry of Education since 2001 are all about giving students more rights and limiting school and teacher powers," Wei said.

Perhaps not surprisingly, many students have welcomed the new way of doing things. "I didn't expect our opinions could carry that much weight; I was so surprised," said 18-year-old Wang Jiwei, who attends Jinan No 7 middle school. "But it's great. I feel like I'm gaining my first important right after reaching adulthood."

Wang said he was asked to anonymously rate his teachers in a questionnaire on skills and professional ethics. Naturally, he marked down teachers who verbally abused him or attacked his fashion preferences.

Some experts fear the reforms have gone too far and could lead to desperate teachers trying to curry favour with students or push stressed ones towards a mental collapse.

"Middle school teachers are already under heavy pressure these days, mainly to help children get good grades to enter college. But to let youngsters assess them I just don't know how teachers are going to take this," said Quan Chaolu, a psychiatrist and retired professor of education with the Shandong Normal University.

Yang Qianfang, a 40-year-old chemistry teacher, said the new assessments have led her to try hard to improve teaching. But she said it was a dreadful pressure that at times made her feel totally exhausted.

"I have seen a growing number of middle school teachers go mad or commit suicide. It would be better if we let children focus on the good things about their teachers, and not determine their careers," Quan said.

(China Daily 11/15/2005 page14)