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Training for xin fang

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-10 07:58

A Shenyang-based college is reportedly enrolling students for a special program on xin fang this fall. Which at first sight appears to be a worthy attempt to dovetail college education with societal needs. After all, difficulties in landing a job after four years in college have been a national headache for years.

The capital city of the northeastern province, Liaoning, finds a pressing need for well-trained professionals to take care of the local xin fang, or letters and visits to government departments. Xin fang refers literally to citizens' letters and visits to competent authorities for lodging complaints. Until last year, the city had persistently occupied the embarrassing No 1 position for the volume of complaints filed in the province.

Since such a figure counts heavily in the government performance appraisal system, we have seen local officials across the country straining every nerve to bring it down. Good for the Shenyang residents and authorities that the latter are not resorting to suppressing people's expression of dissent, as is the case in some places.

Worried that the municipal xin fang departments are understaffed, and their employees inadequately educated, the city's Party chief personally put forward the idea of the special class. As a subject under law major, the curriculum features courses in sociology, psychology, risk analysis, and public administration, in addition to those in law.

Given that the school has the autonomy to run such a specialization, if the city can offer jobs to graduates qualifying in this area, it is a welcome solution.

Yet what is the root cause of the disappointing state of affairs in the xin fang sector? Or what is the problem most complained about when it comes to those in authority dealing with letters and visits?

So far as we know, it is more about attitude than competence. Xin fang agencies earned them-selves a less-than-desirable name for a notorious reluctance to listen to people's woes and act on them. If their problems had been heard and resolved locally, people would not have had to brave pressures and obstacles, and bring their cases to higher authorities, sometimes all the way to Beijing.

If the college can adjust its curriculum to cater to local needs, the students may gain easier access to public offices. Yet we cannot be certain that the new course and those qualifying in the subject will be able to bring about substantial improvement in the working of the xin fang departments.

In a certain sense, the political will and courage to face up to problems in public offices and to share the public's weal and woe may do a lot more than four years of college education.

(China Daily 06/10/2009 page8)