Will the myth of 'industrializing' education end?
- Source: Global Times
- [02:22 October 26 2009]
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By Chen Chenchen
Recently in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, a "global business elite junior MBA class" was founded in a middle school for students with successful parents, including a coal mine boss, the CEO of a food company and a real estate developer.
The annual school fee is 70,000 yuan ($10,250), and the syllabus is uniquely designed, including ancient Chinese literature, etiquette, physical education and cooking. The students are preparing to study abroad, rather than take China's national college entrance examination.
In this situation, education is like a product in a supermarket – one can take away whatever one wishes from the shelves, and the only thing that matters is money.
The year 2004 was once touted as witnessing "the end of China's myth of industrializing education." Beihang University was caught charging 100,000 yuan ($14,643) for a certificate of education, a scandal that enraged the public. Zhang Baoqing, then vice minister of education, said at the time that "the Ministry of Education has been against the industrialization of education, which will lead to the perishing of education."
