BEIJING: Confucius, one of China's greatest educators, who lived about 2,500 years ago, might miss the good old days if he was teaching in today's schools.

He would be puzzled by the regulation issued by China's Ministry of Education late last month, which authorized class teachers to criticize students for misbehavior.

"Isn't it something taken for granted?" asked a netizen in a post on China's popular virtual community www.tianya.com on Wednesday.

Wang Dinghua, deputy director of the ministry's basic education department, told Xinhua the new regulation aimed to firmly support teachers in managing increasingly rebellious students.

Most discussions about the regulation on the Internet focused on whether teachers are losing once-unshakable authority.

For example, in a tale of the Song Dynasty (960-1276) 40-year-old Yang Shi, during a visit to his master Cheng Yi, waited outside in the heavy snow, unwilling to wake his master up from an afternoon nap.

It's a different picture now. Qiao Liang, a high school class teacher at Tianjin's famed Yaohua Secondary School, said students were much less respectful.

"Once a student slammed the door on me and walked away after I pointed out his misbehavior," said the 26-year-old man.

But in the prestigious school the students' behavior was comparatively good , he said.

"I heard students in some schools played poker in class, or threatened teachers when being criticized," he said.

Li Fengping, who has been a teacher for 20 years, said students were more rebellious than ever.

"Most students have huge egos now. Even if they show respect, they don't really listen to your words," she said.

In such circumstances, more and more teachers ignored behavior and attitude problems and were inclined to focus on teaching, which is worrying education experts.

Xu Zhiyong, a Beijing Normal University expert specializing in education policy, said: "To point out students' wrongdoing and help them correct it is an essential part of education."

Parents agree. Guo Liyuan, mother of a 10-year-old boy, said so long as teachers mean no harm, they had the right to criticize students.

"If a teacher backs away from correcting students' mistakes, he's not doing his job," she said.

"There is nothing new in the new regulation. The Education Law, which took effect in 1995, said the same thing," said Xu. "The ministry is merely reasserting teachers' rights and obligations."

Not only the students but also parents have doubts about teachers.

Jie Yahua, the mother of a 14-year-old girl, said: "We expect teachers to correct our kids, but the real problem is how."

Her daughter was stalked by a boy from her class. The mother kept it secret from her daughter's class teacher after she found out about it.

"I was afraid the teacher would not be able to handle it well. If so, it might have a negative impact on my daughter and the boy, " she said.

Parents now are paying as much attention to teachers' skills as they do to their own parenting.

Among the country's 10 million teachers, not every one lives up to the expectations of parents.

"As long as teachers use correct methods, we are more than happy to cooperate," Guo Liyuan said. But her boy was once spanked by a teacher.

Teachers are aware of current changes. "We are very careful about the words we use for fear of harming a student's pride. We also tailor the necessary punishment according to different students," said Qiao Liang.

"The ministry rule does not mean teachers have lost their authority," Xu Zhiyong said. "It just shows our society has progressed to regulate teachers by laws and rules. They can not do whatever they like to students. The previous teacher-centered education has shifted to a student-oriented mode."

"Now, we respect and pay greater attention to the personality of students. But this can not go to extremes in indulging their wrongdoings."