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Unshackling universities

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-12 07:45

It's by no means easy to reduce government involvement in the management of universities, says an article in Dazhong Daily. Following is an excerpt:

Universities, as one member of the National Committee of the CPPCC recently suggested, should free themselves from the control of administrative powers. The old practice of universities being designated a certain administrative level, like provincial or ministerial, should be stopped and they should be allowed to choose presidents by themselves rather than by government.

It is known that the designation of administrative levels for universities has marginalized academic research. People have long called for the abolition of the system, but it seems quite hard to do so.

First, the bureaucratization is a common disease of government-funded universities, even in Western countries. Most Chinese universities are built and funded by the government, which directly or indirectly manage universities on behalf of tax payers.

In this sense, they are similar to State-owned enterprises. As an investor, the government has the right to get involved in the management of universities. What's more, the president of a university is named by the government, which strengthens its subordination to the government.

Second, the abolition of administrative-level universities faces great barriers since they not only symbolize social status and fame, but also determine their allocation of government and social resources. Those already enjoying these advantages will naturally oppose reform.

But tertiary institutions are not the only ones contaminated by bureaucracy. All public-sector institutions have faced the same problem. Without the reform of overall public-sector institutions, it will not be that easy to free universities from administrative involvement.

(China Daily 03/12/2009 page9)