From Chinese Press

Save students from wrong books

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-04 07:54

The government has issued repeated orders prohibiting "unified subscription" of reference books. But many education officials are still engaged the practice because it generates huge profits. The country's compulsory education system, which is supposed to be clean, is facing a crisis created by corruption, says an article in Zhujiang Evening News. Excerpts:

Since they exercise administrative power, school heads can get parents' signatures to continue to prescribe reference books to their wards.

In Anhui province, for example, a student on average spends 300 yuan on reference books. The province has nearly 10 million schoolchildren, which means the sale of reference books could fetch up to 3 billion yuan. When such money is at stake and supervision is not strict, some people are bound to exploit the situation to make fat profits.

The disorderly market of reference books not only picks a hole in parents' pockets, but also causes double harm to students. On one hand, books printed only for the purpose of making money cannot have good reference material. On the other, it would add to students' burden instead of easing it.

For years, educators, parents and government officials have been discussing how to reduce students' schoolwork. There seems to be unanimity, too, that students are overburdened because of the country's exam-oriented education system. But a deeper analysis will reveal that corruption in the education system contributes part of that burden.

(China Daily 06/04/2010 page9)