Nick, writing a book often means that the writer has to "commercialize" its content, but posting on forums like this one means the teacher can freely say what he wants to say.

Adding a bit of verve to a book is less harmful than writing a venomous forum post which may be based on no experience of the issue in question, or just written in bitterness.

However, we do have some transvestite teachers on, don't we?

Im not 100% sure what this means ... Im guessing it refers to people assuming new identities online? As it was in reply to me I thought I should mention I am in agreement with you. The anonymity of the internet does seem to mean some people act a lot dumber online than Im sure they are in real life.

Anyway ...

I think the idea that education should be about nothing but education is a noble one, but its fairly naive to believe this is the case. This isnt exclusive to China, and it isnt exclusive to training schools.

Consider religious organisations that fund or support schools and other organisations. In some Western countries many places of education have strong religious connections, and in the process of their education, they also seek to instruct religious belief and customs. Some places place a strong emphasis and bias on 'their way being the only way', and it could be suggested that this doesnt provide a balanced education.

Consider modern educational targets within many countries. Many people in authority are set specific targets in terms of standards, and it could be suggested that education may take a back seat to achieving targets. Sometimes these targets do go hand in hand with a quality education, sometimes they do not.

Consider Overseas students in Western Universities. With Universities often charging incredibly high fees, foreign students are seen as a valuable income source for many universities, and standards may be dropping to allow more and more students to enter them, despite them being ill-equipped for study.

And consider the teaching itself. I would assert that it is very common for some schools, colleges, universities and teachers to place more emphasis on passing exams than they may pass on the learning process itself.

These are just 4 simple examples of how other factors may influence learning, and these are prevalent everywhere, not just in China.