Stronger management helps students 'understand social realities': expert
The Communist Party of China's (CPC) inspector at the education ministry said the Party has strengthened management and inspection of university teachers' "inappropriate remarks" in classrooms, according to information posted on the top disciplinary watchdog's official website on Wednesday.
Wang Liying, a discipline inspector sent to the Ministry of Education by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the CPC, said in an interview that great importance has been attached to the improvement of Party members' political alertness and political judgment, noting that "the current political ecology is yet to be purified."
The Party has repeatedly emphasized ideological education in universities in recent years.
At the end of January 2015, following the education ministry's release of a notice on enhancing ideological education in universities, China's Education Minister Yuan Guiren warned the country's universities and colleges to maintain political integrity, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
"Never let textbooks promoting Western values appear in our classes," the minister said.
The notice and Wang's remarks can be seen as a signal to university professors and instructors, warning them that they are required to stay in tune with mainstream socialist values, Yin Yungong, an expert on the socialist system at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
When asked about the reasons for re-emphasizing ideological education, Yin said that the Party's ideological education program in universities is presently facing serious problems.
"The problem is that many teachers now do not feel ashamed to mock mainstream values," Tang Zhongbao, an associate professor at the School of Marxism of Jiangnan University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
"The information spread by university teachers in classrooms may create negative impressions of the Party and the government among students," Yin said, referring to a report published by Liaoning Daily in November 2014, which pointed out that many teachers gave Marxism the cold shoulder and advocated Western values.
Yin warned that such arguments from teachers could contribute to irrational thinking and behavior by students.
"Management of teachers' improper remarks ensures that students will not be led astray, are taught how to behave rationally and unemotionally, and learn how to understand social realities in a correct way," Yin said.
"Such management will not influence the freedom of academic research," Yin claimed.
Tang suggested that there should be more detailed regulations specifying in black and white terms which topics are prohibited in classrooms.
The central authorities in January 2015 state that ideology-based instruction in colleges is "a strategic project that can consolidate the foundation [of values] and shape the spirit," the Xinhua News Agency reported.
