|
The dean at a Chinese university has been fired after complaining
about the "bureaucratization" of the country's higher-education system
on his blog.
Zhang Ming, dean of political
science at Beijing's Peoples University, defended a colleague who he
said he'd been overlooked for a promotion, says The Chronicle of Higher Education, going on:
"The
bureaucratization and politicization of higher education has already
turned professors into slaves," he'd blogged. "Slaves are surely
obedient, but they also have no morals, and so also certainly have no
sense of responsibility."
Even more to the
point, "The university’s leaders can now all be said to be professors,"
Zhang posted earlier, "but as soon as they become bureaucrats, their
asses take over for their brains, and their behavior changes."
In
a "rare willingness to engage in a public dispute, the School of
International Studies published two open letters on its Web site," says
the Chronicle, adding:
"One, apparently
written by Mr. Li, assailed Mr. Zhang for his 'destroying of the
university's unity and peaceful atmosphere.' While conceding that 'all
organizations have problems of varying degrees,' the letter said Mr.
Zhang had 'set a precedent by dragging the university’s internal
affairs into the public media and stirring up trouble'.
"It
appears that Mr. Zhang will still be permitted to teach. In recent
years, China has punished outspoken scholars by canceling their classes
but allowing them to remain on the staff and to collect their salaries."
Recommend this article... |
