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Why should age matter in posts
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-03 08:01
The higher the post, the older a government official is. This age sequence is based on three basic hypotheses, which are not necessarily true, says an article in Oriental Morning Post. Excerpts:
An author, researching on the average age of government officials at all levels, was surprised to find that some town officials were in their 30s, and others even younger. Officials' average age varies according to their posts. For example, provincial officials are generally in their 50s, county officials, 40s, and town officials, 30s.
This age sequence is based on three basic hypotheses. First, lower-level posts require less experience. Second, older officials have poorer health. Third, all grassroots officials get promoted over time.
But this is not altogether true. First, grassroots officials have to be more competent because they have to deal more with ordinary people and thus need to pay attention to their hardships and appeals. Since rich experience can help them achieve that, officials in their 40s and 50s would be more suitable for such posts.
Second, older officials do not necessarily suffer from poor health.
Third, it's impossible for all grassroots officials to be promoted. Like most administrations around the world, Chinese government organizations have a pyramid-like structure: higher posts are fewer than lower ones. Hence, many middle-aged officials are left on the sidelines of the narrow promotion channel. This causes a huge waste of human resources and poses a great risk to the entire bureaucracy.
Since the age sequence concerns many policies, the existing system needs to be changed.
(China Daily 12/03/2009 page9)
