If not having worked in a particular sector precludes one from having an opinion, this Board would some shut down!

I assume you mean 'soon shut down'. Yes, you're right. Furthermore, discussions about China tend to turn into slanging matches in which emoyions and personal dislikes override important issues being 'discussed'. I notice there is so much vitriole. Also, the posters who are the most skilful at putting down fellow posters become irate when they themselves are under attack. Their egoes seem inflated.

As for Chinese education, certainly the middle schools are run like army training camps in many ways. Students are under pressure academically and expected to respect their teachers, be they good teachers or bad teachers. It's certainly an eye-opener to be a member of the teaching staff at a senior middle school, and a horrible experience for many western high school teachers to be part of. It's a pity that you are now too old to be employed in this way in China. If not, you'd learn much more about Chinese education than you already know, very quickly.

You might well be surprised to some extent by what happened when I attempted, out of the kindness of my heart, to assist a relatively local private middle school to improve its job ad. This is what happened on Skype:

[2015/6/22 16:04:50] *** Call to 杨智, busy.
***
[2015/6/22 16:27:11] *** Call to 杨智, busy.
***
[2015/6/23 8:59:24] 杨智: good morning
[2015/6/23 8:59:38] 杨智: are u looking for a job?
[2015/6/23 10:39:31] ROXY: Good morning. No, I'm not. I was one of the first FTs AT Jining SZ. I'm retired and stay in Hohhot with my Chinese wife. I think your ad needs improving.
[2015/6/23 10:40:57] ROXY: We can speak and you can take notes to rectify the ad, if u like,
[2015/6/23 10:42:18] ROXY: So, please call me when you next see that I'M ONLINE on Skype. Bye for now,
- - - -
[2015/6/23 15:08:45] 杨智: thanks for telling us,but we do not need it.
[2015/6/23 15:09:50] ROXY: ok, as u like. good luck with your recruitment.

They are offering free dorm accommodation to FTs and are seeking 'native speakers, white people'. In fact, they did change their advert fast, but I don't think changing it by highlighting part of it in red will make any difference to the success or otherwise of their recruitment drive. These days, I'm less tolerant due to my age, and have therefore removed them from my Skype contact list. No second chance for them! You can find this ad in the relevant section of this board. I bet it will be up again in a day or two! I wonder what they will change next! The mind boggles!