freeman
- 2008-04-03
Ah, "ignore the worthless, and love the worthy." Would that I could follow such sage advice! I'll have to wrap my brain around that one for awhile.
No, I haven't actually wondered about the airline pilots. I'm more worried about the Captains of those subs parked off the coast of America. Hope they were graduated on merit and not privilege.... 
R.P.BenDedek
- 2008-03-31
How refreshing to read your comments. I am now in my 6th year in China. I do understand exactly what you have written. My own perspective however, is that I am here for those who want to learn. I came to China for just 1 year and stayed - because the students really learned something of value from me and let me know it.
What is scary about China is the quality of it's future 'self-styled' leaders. Little do these precious darlings know that the real leaders of this country actually have proper qualifications and in-depth understanding of complex issues.
So - for all it's worth - ignore the worthless and love the worthy. As for the actual Education Dept..... well - as long as the paper work has all it's 't's' crossed and 'i's' dotted - that is all that matters.
In so many respects it is a crying shame what goes on here. But gee there are so many wonderful kids and hard working parents who really do have sound values and priciples.
Of course, having written this - I am myself, currently deciding whether to pull out of China or not. In place of 2 classes previously taught for one semester and crying out for me to continue my teaching program because they learned so much, I now have 3 classes of dipsticks who have no interest, which, combined with bad behaviour, prevents even the interested ones from learning. My complaint is about bureaucratic process rather than being concerned for the welfare of students.
One can only hope that the day will come when those who learned for the sake of learning, will provide a decent and intelligent future for their country. Just as an afterthought - do you ever wonder about those airline pilots? What sort of tests did they pass?
It may seem rather naive on my part that I find the practice of allowing students to graduate even if they haven't fulfilled the "requirements" to be, well, immoral on one level and dishonest on another. But that's what is happening in China. I've heard of it too many times, but now that I have first hand experience with it I'm prompted to move on, that is, I've had enough. I have no interest in teaching children, I'm not interested in running the gamut of private training centers and etc. And basically, though I'll continue to hang out in China, I'll not continue to give my energies to such an endeavor as I have for the last nearly five years. Until recently, I've been fairly satisfied with teaching university students. But now that I've been asked to take part in a sham by writing a test for a handful of students who could not pass the first or second test - what they call the "A" test and the "B" test - I really have to draw the line. The situation, by the way, has not arisen before because this is the first graduating class of our college.
Yes, when preparing final examinations we must first submit an "A" exam, which is the exam that all students in the class must take. However, we must also submit a "B" exam, which is the exam taken by students who failed the first one. Of course the "B" exam must be a little easier. I've recently found out that those who didn't pass the first test of last year's final have already taken the second and none of them passed it. Not surprising - after all, those that failed rarely, if ever. attended class and/or showed absolutely no interest in being attentive or motivated. But the kicker is that I'm being asked to write a "C" test. This is not policy, it's just the bright idea of the dean whose puppet strings are being pulled by the leaders who are loathe to tarnish their reputation as a great third tier college where students who can't get into second tier of first tier colleges can go to a get a "great education." (These kinds of colleges are springing up all over China and are growing rapidly. They charge extremely high tuition, so naturally most of the student body is made up of privileged rich kids who have been doted on all their lives and whose diplomas, being awarded under false circumstances or not, are more important to the parents so that they'll have some bragging rights than they are in terms of what they may represent in terms of what their child learned.)
Aside from the fact that the above circumstance challenges my own sense of right and wrong, I question whether the leaders of this country or even the Department of Education would appreciate or accept it. And then of course there is the aspect of whether the "graduates" themselves are prepared for the real world. If Daddy's wealth holds out, I guess it's not a problem - no guarantees there though.
Another way to look at would be from the perspective of the poor farmer who has saved all his life to give his son or daughter a higher education. Would he consider the above scenario fair given the fact that he could never afford to send his offspring to such a college - a college that caters to the rich and nearly rich, and hands out diplomas to the undeserving as easily as to the deserving?
Who would consider such a scenario fair? Oh well, while realizing that this is China and that in this context anything goes if you can get away with it, I'm still interested in the opinions of posters to this forum.