From Chinese Press

A disturbing teaching practice

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-29 09:28

Liu Quansheng is a professor at Wuhan University who also holds part-time jobs in some other universities and institutions. This may be a common phenomenon in the country and it helps professors and universities alike. But it is certainly not good for academic progress, says an article in Guanming Daily. Excerpts:

As Liu has said, universities that employ professors full-time as well as part-time know about the formal process of doing so, which is confirmed by the local education department.

For sure, there are many professors like Liu in China today, and competition for competent professors in China is fierce.

Besides, it is not always possible for universities to get the right person for the right job, so they opt for part-time or visiting professors in some cases. This serves both ways: it helps the universities to get the right people for the right job and the teachers to earn some much-needed extra income.

But despite the hard and sincere work that a professor teaching in a number of universities puts in, there is a limit to his/her energy and mental faculty. In such circumstances, it would be difficult for even the most gifted and knowledgeable professor to pass on his knowledge and expertise to students.

That's why in the long run such a practice would be detrimental both to professors and students.

(China Daily 03/29/2011 page9)