Schools to be appointed supervisors nationwide

All primary and secondary schools across China are to be appointed supervisors by the end of the year, a move that education officials say will improve the regulation of education for children.

The Ministry of Education announced on Monday that China's 300,000 public primary and secondary schools will have a supervisor to oversee the work of staff, instruct teachers and handle complaints from parents.

He Xiuchao, an official from the ministry, said, "There are lots of problems in school education across the country, which have not been discovered or solved in time. So we are inviting supervisors into schools to help."

Supervisors will be appointed by local education authorities and each one will look after about five schools, visiting them at least once a month. They will carry out inspections on various aspects of performance, including school management, student recruitment, fees, curriculum design, campus environment, student workloads, teaching quality and ethics.

They should also respond to complaints or accusations from parents, write reports on the schools in their care and come up with solutions to any problems encountered, the ministry said on Monday.

The names, photographs, contact details and responsibilities of supervisors will be displayed near the entrance to each school, ensuring that parents can contact them easily.

According to He, supervisors should have a bachelor's degree and 10 years of experience as a teacher. Some retired principals and outstanding teachers will also be hired as part-time supervisors to assist with the supervisory workload.

The ministry's announcement on Monday means the expansion of a system that has already been implemented in some schools across the country. Many have reported good results from the system over a period of several years.

Liang Guangrong, who used to be a teacher of history and politics, has been the supervisor of more than 20 primary and middle schools in Changyi, Shandong province, since 2009.

He visited these schools at least twice a month and provided many suggestions on improvements and problem solving.

"By attending classes in these schools, I found that many students lacked interest in studying. So I talked to teachers and principals, and we finally came up with a couple of methods to ignite students' enthusiasm for study," said Liang.

Jiang Yong, the principal of a rural middle school in Changyi, Shandong province, said his school introduced its first two supervisors early in 2009, and they helped to overcome many difficulties.

Jiang said the school, which is located in a remote rural area, lacked teachers, especially young ones. The supervisors reported to the local education department, and the department recruited four graduates from normal universities to work as teachers.

"Thanks to the supervisors, we got the four young teachers, which means a great deal to the development of our school and our students," said Jiang. "The supervisors are like a bridge between the local education department and our school."

Parents have also welcomed the new system, which they anticipate will offer them various benefits.

Li Liwen, 40, from Chongqing, has a child in the ninth grade. She said the supervisor system will provide a platform for parents to communicate with schools.

"As parents, we often want to communicate with schools about how to better educate our children, but we don't know how and where to communicate," Li said. "Now I know that I can talk to the supervisors first."

Experts said the system is a good idea, but their value to the schools, parents and students will depend on their professional capabilities.

Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher on education with the National Institute of Education Sciences, said being familiar with teaching and education is a minimum prerequisite for supervisors.

"They also should go out of the school to collect comments and suggestions from parents and society," he said. "Besides, they should accept being supervised too."

Ji Jin in Chongqing contributed to this story.

zhaoxinying@chinadaily.com.cn