Civil organizations need support

A famous Chinese talk show anchor at CCTV criticized Hunan provincial education authority on his weibo feed because the authority did not intend to support his charity program of training 100 rural teachers in Hunan province, says an article in Beijing News.

On June 12, the provincial education authority responded that it was not proper for government agencies to directly replace civil organizations and participate in organizing relevant activities.

The program of training village teachers can help to improve the quality of education in the countryside. Because of the background of its organizer's civil organization identity, local governments are very cautious and reluctant to help.

Past experience indicates local education authorities have not covered all village teachers with their training system. So it is good and necessary for civil organizations to fill the gap. The quarrel between the anchor and local authorities exposes the tricky relations between civil organizations and governments.

The civil organizations look forward to getting more support from the authorities but it has proved to be quite difficult for them to work together because the latter usually turn a cold face to the former.

It is rare for the staff of civil organizations to air their discontent with the authorities. Were it not for the anchor's fame and influence, it would have been difficult for the public to know about this program and the attitude of local governments. Many weaker civil organizations do not have such a famous spokesman for them and thus are unknown to the public.

The government should be open to the civil organizations, which can help it to do its work better, especially in areas concerning the public's interest. The government's help and support for these organizations could be translated into benefits for the public. It would be a win-win situation, instead of a zero-sum game.

The program initiated by the famous anchor has already been successfully implemented in many other provinces with support from local authorities, which set a good example for Hunan provincial education administration to follow.

Translated by Li Yang