Reformers sack idle teachers in Universities
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-12-28 09:08

A shakeup in higher education - some call it an earthquake - is under way as university reformers demand that professors deliver not just a quota of papers, but articles with high original intellectual content and also conduct significant research.

No more lazy professors is the objective. High-quality scholarship, no plagiarism and no more tenure by the numbers seems to be the trend. But there's a long way to go in reforming an entrenched system.

In the latest example, 45 professors at northeast China's elite Jilin University were fired in November for poor performance. Experts said Jilin University's reform may lead to a nationwide revamp of the higher education system and more competitive mechanisms will be introduced in a market socialist economy that emphasizes high performance.

In Jilin, the professors had held the posts of "tutors to doctoral students," considered a badge of honor and a sinecure, basically a lifetime post with benefits and few actual work requirements.

The university said they had failed in their performance appraisals. Experts called it "an earthquake in China's higher educational reform."

The appraisal requires those who tutor doctoral students hold high degrees themselves and conduct valuable and significant research. The Ministry of Education opposes such de facto status, arguing that retaining the post requires regular appraisals.

Because of tenure, some professors become complacent and reluctant to undertake original research. Some even abuse the post to make money, education officials say. There was no elaboration but professors have taken money from students for high marks.

Qiu Shilun, vice president of Jilin University, said the 45 dismissed professors themselves got failing grades academically for academic performance, articles and research.

At prestigious Beijing University, 49 associate professors qualified this year to tutor doctoral students and lecturers in history, education and foreign languages, under a reform plan.

Academic attainments are assessed on the number of theses and articles produced, not on their quality. Many academics are so busy churning out papers that they have little time to think deeply about the subject matter, said Zhou Qifeng, president of Jilin University.