tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/china-education-14435/articlesChina education – The Conversation2021-11-22T19:08:50Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1684822021-11-22T19:08:50Z2021-11-22T19:08:50ZLittle red children and ‘Grandpa Xi’: China’s school textbooks reflect the rise of Xi Jinping’s personality cult<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/432329/original/file-20211117-17-8jltky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-asian-elementary-school-children-one-591940196">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When students in China returned to classrooms in September 2021, they were provided with a <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/lingli_vienna/status/1413865821319860224">new series of textbooks</a> outlining China’s president Xi Jinping, or “Grandpa Xi’s”, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/1/chinas-pupils-get-schooled-in-xi-jinping-thought">political philosophy</a>. </p>
<p>Each textbook on “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era”, as Xi’s political philosophy is officially called, is tailored to students at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1413865821319860224"}"></div></p>
<p>“Xi Jinping Thought” was enshrined into the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com//english/2017-10/29/c_136713559.htm">Constitution</a> in 2017. Although the main stated aims are to remain committed to reform and build a “moderately prosperous society”, the <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/7872#bodyftn4">realities</a> of this political philosophy has been a tightening of party discipline and curtailing of social freedom. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chinas-sixth-plenum-will-consolidate-xi-jinpings-power-and-chart-the-countrys-ambitions-for-the-next-5-years-171395">China's sixth plenum will consolidate Xi Jinping's power and chart the country's ambitions for the next 5 years</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While prior textbooks were focused on the CCP, the new versions centre on China’s paramount leader. In this way they reflect the growing personality cult of Xi Jinping, eerily reminiscent of the days of China’s founding father Mao Zedong.</p>
<h2>The rise of the personality cult</h2>
<p>According to China’s <a href="https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202108/25/WS61259859a310efa1bd66aea6.html">National Textbook Committee</a>, the </p>
<blockquote>
<p>textbooks reflect the will of the Communist Party of China and the nation and directly impact the direction and quality of talent cultivation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In particular, the <a href="https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202108/25/WS61259859a310efa1bd66aea6.html">Committee</a> stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Primary schools should foster love and right understanding for the Party, country and socialism in students.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/19thcpcnationalcongress/2017-10/12/content_33160115.htm">core socialist values</a> highlighted in the textbooks include prosperity, patriotism and friendship. </p>
<p>Targeted at children, the moniker of “Grandpa Xi” is part of the ongoing strategy towards creating a personality cult in China. Authoritarian regimes like the Soviet Union also used the grandfather figure (“Grandpa Lenin”) as part of propaganda aimed at children. This enhanced Lenin’s <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230518216_6">personality cult</a> across the Soviet nations. </p>
<p>Political scientist <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1q1crzp.7?seq=5#metadata_info_tab_contents">Pao-min Chang</a> defines the personality cult as</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The artificial elevation of the status and authority of one man […] through the deliberate creation, projection and propagation of a godlike image.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Like Lenin, a personality cult around Mao Zedong emerged during China’s Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). Although later leaders Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China’s economic reform, and Wen Jiabao, who was Premier between 2003 and 2013, are popularly known as “Grandpa Deng” and “Grandpa Wen,” they did not overtly push for this image. </p>
<p>Xi returns to Mao in his efforts to build a <a href="https://utsynergyjournal.org/2019/03/16/the-cult-of-xi-chinas-return-to-a-maoist-personality-cult/">personality cult</a> around himself. Since coming to power, he has cultivated the image of being “a man of the people” in a bid to make his authoritarianism more palpable to the masses. </p>
<h2>Little red children and Grandpa Xi</h2>
<p>The new primary school textbooks emphasise Xi’s wisdom, friendliness and care for the children. Early signs of this strategy can be seen in government propaganda video, Grandpa Xi is Our Big Friend, that circulated online in 2015. </p>
<p>The video was <a href="https://www.dwnews.com/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/59660857/%E5%BB%B6%E5%AE%89%E5%AD%A6%E7%AB%A5%E6%AD%8C%E9%A2%82%E4%B9%A0%E7%88%B7%E7%88%B7%E7%BD%91%E5%8F%8B%E8%B5%9E%E4%BA%BA%E6%89%8D">recorded</a> at Yan'an Yucai Primary School in Shaanxi. The location is significant because the school was founded by Mao Zedong in 1937. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/xi-jinping-puts-his-stamp-on-communist-party-history-but-is-his-support-as-strong-as-his-predecessors-170874">Xi Jinping puts his stamp on Communist Party history, but is his support as strong as his predecessors?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the video, Xi Jinping is not presented as a distant authority figure. Instead, Grandpa Xi is a caring “big friend.” The children sing that his “warm smile” is “brighter than the sun.” Images of children waving sunflowers and lyrics that describe Xi’s visit as “better than the warmth of a spring day” serve to accentuate his friendly disposition. </p>
<p>Most importantly, the children sing about the need to “study diligently” to “achieve the Chinese Dream”. This dream is Xi Jinping’s vision for China to become a prosperous society.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433031/original/file-20211122-13-1wujt62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Statue of Mao Zedong" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433031/original/file-20211122-13-1wujt62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433031/original/file-20211122-13-1wujt62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433031/original/file-20211122-13-1wujt62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433031/original/file-20211122-13-1wujt62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433031/original/file-20211122-13-1wujt62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433031/original/file-20211122-13-1wujt62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433031/original/file-20211122-13-1wujt62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A personality cult around Mao Zedong was a large part of the propaganda during China’s Cultural Revolution.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/lijiang-china-march-8-2012-statue-531870715">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The children wear red scarves and red stars in the video. These <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/220558">symbols</a> represent the national flag. The colour red alludes to the blood of revolutionary <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2011.587293">martyrs</a>. They remind children of their connection to the nation and the Party. </p>
<p>Xi wears a red scarf in the video. In one scene, he places a red scarf over the shoulders of a child. This accessory and gesture are depicted in the 2021 primary school textbooks as well. The act of placing a scarf on a child signifies children taking on the mantle of happily fulfilling Grandpa Xi’s vision. </p>
<h2>The CCP’s Young Pioneers</h2>
<p>The textbook for lower primary students contain photos of Xi planting trees with children and meeting them at school. </p>
<p>The books include statements such as: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Grandpa Xi Jinping is very busy with work, but no matter how busy he is, he still joins our activities and cares about our growth.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Xi shares his memories of being emotional when joining the Young Pioneers of China (the CCP’s youth organisation) in 1960. He then invites readers to describe their own feelings about becoming a part of the Young Pioneers, thus encouraging young people to join.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422845/original/file-20210923-1932-oof5br.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422845/original/file-20210923-1932-oof5br.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422845/original/file-20210923-1932-oof5br.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422845/original/file-20210923-1932-oof5br.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422845/original/file-20210923-1932-oof5br.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422845/original/file-20210923-1932-oof5br.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422845/original/file-20210923-1932-oof5br.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=871&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Xi Jinping tying a red scarf around a child at a Beijing primary school.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">'Page from Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics For the New Era' textbook for lower primary.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The textbooks use illustrations with speech bubbles to make the ideological content more interesting. Some illustrations are of students sitting around a table teaching each other Grandpa Xi’s expectations to become a person of “good moral character” and who is “diligent and thrifty”. </p>
<p>The books also emphasise acquiring knowledge about “science and technology,” as well as being “creative and innovative”. </p>
<p>The children must cultivate these markers of good citizenship to become what the books refer to as “qualified builders and successors of socialism”. This rhetoric of children as the <a href="https://cup.cuhk.edu.hk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=394">hope of the nation</a> has been in use since the late nineteenth century. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/academic-chongyi-feng-profits-freedom-and-chinas-soft-power-in-australia-78751">Academic Chongyi Feng: profits, freedom and China’s 'soft power' in Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The emphasis on being “qualified” suggests children must live up to the expectations set out by Xi. The textbooks imply this is only possible because of Grandpa Xi’s continued care for them. </p>
<p>This image of Grandpa Xi as a “big friend” is a gentler form of propaganda than that seen during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Propaganda aimed at children during the Cultural Revolution positioned the Party as the surrogate parent. It also highlighted <a href="https://books.google.co.nz/books/about/Picturing_Power_in_the_People_s_Republic.html?id=I3S6mlTj1K4C&redir_esc=y">children’s violence</a> as they fought for the socialist cause. Young Red Guards sang patriotic songs and read the Little Red Book. These rituals fostered Mao’s cult of personality. </p>
<p>It remains to be seen whether the new school curriculum is a harbinger of future deification of Xi Jinping.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168482/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New school textbooks in China focus less on the Chinese Communist Party and more on its figurehead Xi Jinping. The growing cultivation of a personality cult is reminiscent of the days of Mao Zedong.Shih-Wen Sue Chen, Senior Lecturer in Writing and Literature, Deakin UniversitySin Wen Lau, Senior Lecturer in China Studies, University of OtagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1283882019-12-06T04:50:35Z2019-12-06T04:50:35ZChinese students top the PISA rankings, but some Shanghai parents are turning away from the school system<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305530/original/file-20191206-39009-b51h84.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">China is fast becoming a middle-class nation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/kwypdNYwebY">Ewan Yap/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australian 15 year olds were around <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-03/australia-education-results-maths-reading-science-getting-worse/11760880">three and a half years behind</a> their counterparts in China in maths, according to the OECD’s latest results for education systems around the world.</p>
<p>The four cities of China (Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang) that participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/ozpisa/34/">topped the league tables</a> in maths, science and reading. </p>
<p>These four cities don’t represent China as a whole, but their combined size is comparable to a typical OECD country. However, it’s important to mention China’s PISA results don’t reflect the huge number of students living outside the big cities. </p>
<p>Many Westerners believe Chinese students are superseding them because of their <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/9789264190672-6-en.pdf?expires=1575593027&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=96371FFF58012A748179911A21B7E540">Confucian values</a> which see students as hardworking, disciplined and therefore teachable. </p>
<p>But my research into middle-class parents in Shanghai shows they find traditional schools too rigid. They want their children to be globally-minded and adopt values those schools don’t focus on as much – like self-discovery and creativity.</p>
<h2>The hybrid education model</h2>
<p>My two-year research involved interviews with a group of 46 middle-class Chinese parents in Shanghai.</p>
<p>China’s rapid social and economic transformation means it’s fast becoming a middle-class nation with significant spending power. Only 4% of China was made up of <a href="https://www.chinausfocus.com/2022/wp-content/uploads/Part+02-Chapter+07.pdf">middle-class urban households</a> in 2000, but this is estimated to soar to 45% by 2022. </p>
<p>I chose to interview these parents because they represent the recent shift in the educational landscape in Chinese cities. The parents I interviewed are <a href="https://www.relocatemagazine.com/articles/education-schools-int-guide-apac-chinas-insatiable-appetite-for-a-western-education">demanding a world-class education</a> for their children. While academic achievement, such as that evidenced by PISA scores, is important to them, they all said the local Chinese school system was too rigid and exam-oriented. </p>
<p>These parents are more accepting of a <a href="https://www.lek.com/insights/sr/ultimate-consumer-good-education-trends-china">Western-style education</a> because they believe it will give their children an “edge” and grant them access to international opportunities. </p>
<p>They have enrolled their kids in what are called “hybrid” or “East-meets-West” schools. Here, Chinese students learn subjects such as maths, Chinese language and values education from local teachers. But they also study for the International Baccalaureate or the General Certificate of Education at Advanced-Level (the higher school certificate in the UK). </p>
<p>Subjects such as English, arts, music, physical education and philosophy within these curricula are taught by Western expatriate teachers and Chinese bilingual teachers.</p>
<p>The parents who send their children to such schools also value extra-curricular activities and overseas holiday study tours for their children. These extra curriculum activities aren’t just “cram school”. They include drama, dance, singing, sports, and learning one or two musical instruments. </p>
<h2>What parents said</h2>
<p>China’s one-child policy (which ended in 2015) means parents feel more pressure for their child’s success. The modern Chinese family has an <a href="https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1000899/chinas-modern-families-double-income-and-an-invisible-kid">inverted family structure</a>, known as the “4-2-1” (four grandparents, two parents and one child).</p>
<p>The Shanghai middle-class parents in my study were mostly single children themselves. This partly explains why education, and the desire to ensure their child has good job prospects, is so vital for them, as they support their elderly parents alone, and their children are expected to also.</p>
<p>Still, the parents I interviewed placed more emphasis on developing their children’s global mindsets and intercultural competence than just having them attain good academic results. </p>
<p>Mrs Xuan told me her ten-year-old son’s school “exposed (him) to various Western teachers’ way of speaking and communicating […] They have taught him how to communicate better and think differently”.</p>
<p>She said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I want to give my child different options that will allow him to see multiple perspectives and know how to find his own direction.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another parent, Ms Ju, who owns a private business believes a “good” education involves giving her 11-year-old daughter an opportunity to experience being “under-pressure, but not just at school. </p>
<p>She told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I don’t want my child to just focus on doing well academically which is why […] she is playing piano competitively outside school so that she can learn how to manage her time and improve herself.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Professor Zheng, an engineering academic, talked about his experience of teaching an increasingly diverse university student cohort in his elite Chinese university. </p>
<p>He believes his role is to prepare his son (who was eight years of old when I interviewed him) for a world that is becoming a "global village”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My son and his generation will see the world differently from my parents and me because of the technological and economic advancements that he is now experiencing. […] Through travelling, he understands what cultural diversity is and gets to learn how to live in a globalised world.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Other <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03050068.2017.1360566">studies on Chinese parents</a> who send their children to international schools have suggested they offer a haven for domestic students from the competitive and discriminatory features of the Chinese educational system.</p>
<p>Education is more complex than what we see on the PISA chart. Shanghai parents’ aspirations for their children show they are leaning towards the kind of educational system countries like Australia are known for.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128388/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Soong receives funding from Mulit-Year New Colombo Mobility Program for International Placements in Shanghai (2017-2019)</span></em></p>Parents in Shanghai are aiming for their children to adopt Western style values – like self-discovery.Hannah Soong, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education Practice, School of Education, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1209612019-08-11T12:19:04Z2019-08-11T12:19:04ZChina’s tobacco industry is building schools and no one is watching<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287207/original/file-20190807-144883-r5d1h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Reports suggest there are more than 100 tobacco-sponsored schools in China, a country with more than 300 million smokers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Would you send your child to a school named after a cigarette brand? What if it was one of only two schools in your area and boasting far better infrastructure? What if the school also had an inspirational slogan such as “<a href="https://observers.france24.com/en/20100126-china-tobacco-sponsored-schools">genius is from hard work</a>, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/09/26/chinese-cigarettes-sponsor-schools_n_981849.html">tobacco helps you</a> excel” on a sign or its walls, and a tobacco company’s logo on its building? Would you care if the school was built by a tobacco company?</p>
<p>For me, as a person involved in tobacco control research, this is nothing less than a horror story. What is more terrifying, however, is that what I describe above is not conjecture, but reality to many residents of rural China.</p>
<p>The shock and disbelief I experienced when I first found out about these so-called “tobacco schools” drove me to research this issue. I worked with some Chinese colleagues from the Peking Medical Union College to document Chinese <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31302606">public perception of these schools for the very first time</a>.</p>
<p>We visited a small village in Yunnan province and interviewed a government official, school principals, teachers, students and parents of three local schools, one of which was sponsored by a local tobacco company. In addition, we also interviewed tobacco control advocates in Beijing. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287212/original/file-20190807-144873-7ywwdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287212/original/file-20190807-144873-7ywwdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287212/original/file-20190807-144873-7ywwdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287212/original/file-20190807-144873-7ywwdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287212/original/file-20190807-144873-7ywwdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287212/original/file-20190807-144873-7ywwdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287212/original/file-20190807-144873-7ywwdo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Future generations’ health is at risk when indirect marketing of tobacco in schools is permitted.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why schools?</h2>
<p>The Chinese tobacco industry is a powerful state-owned enterprise. The commercial arm called the China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC) is managed by the government arm, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration. CNTC is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2016.1241293">the largest tobacco company in the world, producing 40 per cent of the global cigarette supply</a>. The company has a monopoly in China to supply <a href="https://www.who.int/tobacco/about/partners/bloomberg/chn/en/">more than 300 million Chinese smokers</a>, but is virtually unheard of outside of China. All facts combined, CNTC wields significant financial and political power.</p>
<p>As a state-owned enterprise, CNTC is expected to closely follow the government’s policy leads, and to support particular priorities, such as reducing poverty. </p>
<p>The Chinese government’s Project Hope targets rural development and provides education through what it designates as Hope elementary schools. To actively support this government initiative through its corporate social responsibility projects, CNTC has built numerous schools. We find that what tobacco companies such as Hongta promote as <a href="http://www.hongta.com/language/en/duty/back/support/">corporate social responsibility</a> acts as a form of indirect marketing. </p>
<p>It is difficult to predict exact numbers, but reports suggest there are <a href="http://news.ifeng.com/society/2/detail_2011_05/30/6712976_0.shtml">more than 100 such tobacco-sponsored schools</a>, named after tobacco companies or cigarette brands — such as <a href="http://china.zjol.com.cn/05china/system/2009/12/13/016146988.shtml">Sichuan Tobacco Hope primary school</a> or <a href="http://www.huaxia.com/ah-tw/ahyw/2006/00458088.html">Yingkesong Hope primary school</a>. </p>
<p>In particular, many such tobacco schools were built following the devastating <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/05/10-years-since-the-devastating-2008-sichuan-earthquake/560066/">Sichuan earthquake in 2008</a>. The tobacco industry does not stop here, however. The sponsoring company will often donate school supplies, equipment, stock school libraries and even provide <a href="http://www.nj.yn.gov.cn/nj/72340168526266368/20081023/186491.html">student bursaries and teacher bonuses</a> in some instances.</p>
<h2>Charity vs. propaganda</h2>
<p>We found public perception of locals in the Yunnan village to be overwhelmingly in favour of tobacco corporate social responsibility exercised through projects such as school sponsorships. An education bureau official denied that the tobacco sponsorships constituted tobacco marketing, stating that “this is a company giving back to the community.” </p>
<p>A school principal of one such tobacco Hope elementary school we visited stated that school sponsorship is “to show they are kind and care about the community … Contributing to a public cause is the best way to show kindness and repay locals.” The impact on students was swiftly dismissed by another principal, who said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Sponsorship if purely financial, and not teaching students about tobacco.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Teachers employed by the school felt “gratitude to the tobacco company for improvements to our learning and teaching environment,” and have repeatedly mentioned the benefactor to their students. Students as young as Grade 5 expressed a wish “to study hard to repay” the company, and many thought “the tobacco company is kind.”</p>
<p>Some parents, however, were less enthusiastic, having reservations about the school’s name change following tobacco sponsorship. One parent called it “propaganda in disguise.” </p>
<p>While the Chinese tobacco control community agrees such corporate social responsibility projects constitute tobacco promotion, some were more lenient, citing local Chinese context of the tobacco industry’s status and pointing out financial needs the local government may not be ready to meet. </p>
<p>The situation is best summed up by a parent, who pointed out that “tobacco is bad, but money is money.”</p>
<h2>Going global</h2>
<p>Tobacco schools are not unique to China, and the industry’s support for education is present in at least two other countries. </p>
<p>CNTC has been operating a subsidiary in Zimbabwe since 2005. Tian Ze Tobacco Co specializes in tobacco leaf procurement <a href="http://www.chinaembassy.org.zw/chn/xwdt/t1419434.htm">and built an elementary school in 2010</a> in the farming community of Beatrice, and periodically donates school supplies and sports equipment. While referred to as <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/zim-china-growing-a-forest-of-relations/">Dunnolly Primary School</a> in Zimbabwean media, Chinese sources call the school China Tobacco Ma Bo Hope Primary School, reportedly <a href="http://www.sohu.com/a/199385435_201960">named after a former Tian Ze Tobacco employee, Ma Bo</a>. </p>
<p>While CNTC’s Cambodian subsidiary Viniton Group has not built any schools, it is said to be an <a href="http://www.viniton.com/a/cn/news/20150929/73.html">active supporter of education</a>. In 2013, in the name of friendship, Viniton Group <a href="http://www.viniton.com/a/en/news/20130705/70.html">donated school supplies, desks and chairs to Hun Sen Primary School</a>. Viniton Group also <a href="http://www.viniton.com/a/cn/news/20150929/73.html">supported another school in 2015</a>, located near its new production plant.</p>
<p>CNTC has been <a href="https://blogs.bmj.com/tc/2019/08/01/china-tobacco-and-belt-and-road-initiative-the-new-go-global/">increasingly active on the international market</a> through implementing various strategies. The aim is to further expand global markets and establish more off-shore production facilities. </p>
<p>As CNTC aggressively expands its international presence, will the world be ready for the increasingly global reach of what it frames as its corporate social responsibility?</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120961/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Fang receives funding from the National Cancer Institute, US National Institutes of Health grant R01-CA091021 and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant 430-2018-00736.</span></em></p>The Chinese National Tobacco Corporation is expanding its international markets through subsidiaries. Is the world ready for tobacco companies sponsoring or supporting schools?Jennifer Fang, Research fellow, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/860642017-10-29T19:10:50Z2017-10-29T19:10:50ZHow should Australia respond to China’s influence in our universities?<p>The federal government is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-china-university/australia-campuses-warned-of-clandestine-influence-in-apparent-poke-at-china-idUSKBN1CU0LZ">concerned</a> about <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-25/government-very-conscious-foreign-interference-australian-unis/9082948">Chinese influence</a> in Australia, particularly on <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-10/universities-urged-to-be-vigilant-over-chinese-influence/9032840">universities</a>. While we don’t know exactly how deep this influence runs, we do know quite a bit. </p>
<p>Financially, many Australian universities depend on international students from mainland China. It was <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/research-unis-rely-on-chinese-fees/news-story/ba330001d697fa9c54325d8c824c4569">recently suggested</a> that 16% of the University of Sydney’s revenue comes from these students. Over the past two decades, this rapid change has made universities look and feel different.</p>
<p>From a financial perspective, it didn’t really matter if universities changed; the more enrolments the better. From a social perspective, university administrators <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07294360.2012.642838">suggested</a> that the presence of Chinese students would create mutually beneficial cross-cultural communication and exchange. Academics initially thought that while it might take a while, Chinese students would “adjust” to Australia. </p>
<p>More recently, academics have come to a more pessimistic conclusion: Chinese students in Australia inhabit a “<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13676261.2014.992316?journalCode=cjys20">parallel society</a>”, in which they engage with Australian society only rarely.</p>
<p>The combination of these factors — Australia’s financial dependence on China, the increasing Chinese presence in Australia, the disconnection of mainland Chinese students from Australian society and culture, and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) increasing global assertiveness — has begun to create conflict.</p>
<h2>What are the conflicts?</h2>
<p>When university students and teachers discuss contentious issues relating to China, they often face criticism from PRC students. The criticism can be harsh, well-organised, and heavily publicised. Cases at the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-41104634">University of Newcastle</a>, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/monash-throws-out-the-textbook-over-chinese-student-complaints/news-story/3453651355ed61ab28989e7623c8dd9d">Monash University</a>, and the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/the-patriotic-education-of-chinese-students-at-australian-universities-20161003-gru13j.html">Australian National University</a> illustrate the scope of the problem. </p>
<p>Nothing about student protest is inherently undesirable. In fact, it is a manifestation of the academic freedom that university students deserve – and would not have in China. But what constitutes a “contentious issue”, and who is orchestrating this criticism? Examining the issues disputed makes two things clear: first, that the issues Chinese students deem “contentious” are exactly the same issues that the Chinese government deems “contentious”, particularly those relating to China’s territorial integrity and history. Second, that the
organisations orchestrating the response to these issues, particularly the <a href="https://umsu.unimelb.edu.au/clubs/chinese-students-and-scholars-association/">Chinese Students and Scholars Association</a> (CSSA), are funded by and work closely with Chinese state bodies such as consulates. </p>
<p>This runs in parallel with a steady intensification of “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/china-quarterly/article/engineering-stability-authoritarian-political-control-over-university-students-in-postdeng-china/DFF63BFB9FFE0C884DB795B587616ED9">ideological education</a>” in the PRC, together with attempts to shape how China is seen by the world through <a href="http://english.hanban.org/node_7870.htm">Confucius Institutes</a>, the CSSA, and other “soft power” bodies. At <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-congress/chinas-xi-lays-out-vision-for-new-era-led-by-still-stronger-communist-party-idUSKBN1CM35L">last week’s Party Congress</a>, President Xi Jinping stated China’s priority is to become a globally “stronger” nation.</p>
<p>So, should universities and the Australian government draw the line at some point? Should they ban or restrict contentious organisations? And if these groups cause friction on campus, how should university students and administrators respond?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/telling-chinese-students-to-conform-wont-fix-cross-cultural-issues-85666">Telling Chinese students to conform won't fix cross-cultural issues</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Three main issues in question</h2>
<p><strong>Is this really the Chinese government’s fault?</strong> </p>
<p>In some ways, yes. The chain of command is clear: from the PRC government to consulates to student organisations to students. On the other hand, students often don’t need to be encouraged to support Chinese interests. Teachers hear spontaneous outbursts of nationalism in class all the time.</p>
<p>Students in the CSSA are being manipulated by the PRC government, but they are individuals too. Universities should set a high standard for suppressing individual views. Supporting one government’s policies does not meet that standard.</p>
<p><strong>Who is really being harmed here?</strong></p>
<p>Broadly speaking, local students and academics are hearing views they don’t want to hear, often inaccurate, and frequently phrased in an inflammatory way. Again, there is nothing inherently wrong with that. Student politics is fundamentally confrontational. If local students and academics disagree, we can speak up, as
<a href="https://www.woroni.com.au/words/the-truth-about-the-chinese-students-and-scholars-association/">several students</a> have done. </p>
<p>The more severe harms are to Chinese-background students,
whether or not they are from the PRC. Chinese culture is not the same as PRC culture. It is complex and diverse, and Chinese students have <a href="https://www.purdue.edu/crcs/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/CRCS-Report-of-Chinese-Students-in-the-US_Final-Version.pdf">wide-ranging views</a> on many topics. As a teacher of Chinese students, I am not particularly concerned when my students support the PRC. They have many reasons to do so. But I am extremely concerned when students tell me that they are afraid to criticise China, even in essays, because they are worried that their fellow Chinese students will attack them.</p>
<p>When dissenting Chinese students are ostracised by student organisations, this harms the dissenting students, who lose the valuable cultural connections and support that student organisations provide. It also harms the majority of PRC students, who never get the opportunity to debate ideas suppressed in the PRC media, and who accept too frequently that the views of the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/china_politics/government/html/1.stm">Communist Party of China</a> (CPC) are correct and normal.</p>
<p><strong>What right do universities have to intervene in student organisations</strong>?</p>
<p>As a rule, academic freedom should apply to everyone in the university. While it is reasonable to suggest that it should be restricted in some circumstances (for example, to restrict fascist organisations), the trend towards <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137587848">censoriousness on campus</a> is also concerning. Free speech should be paramount, even when the CSSA says things people don’t like. Banning or restricting the CSSA, for example, would have no effect on the PRC but would irritate and harm many Chinese students.</p>
<p>It should not end there. Universities can actively facilitate diversity in debate. Responsible universities would prioritise funding to the setup of Chinese student groups without political alignment and to facilitating debate about contentious topics relating to China. They would also give prominent dissenters, like <a href="https://www.woroni.com.au/words/red-fingertips-chinese-political-refugee-friend-of-ai-weiwei-and-anu-student-tells-his-story/">Wu Lebao</a>, special support.</p>
<h2>What do we need to do?</h2>
<p>Australian universities have sometimes been naive about China. Chinese students have been admitted in large numbers <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/10/12/english-language-test-international-students-essential-birmingham">without concern for their academic skills</a>, <a href="https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=332480460154352;res=IELAPA">taught without concern for their social and cultural needs</a>, and little has been done to help them adapt to Australia and its culture. Under these circumstances, it’s not surprising that they feel disconnected from universities and turn to student organisations that speak their language and understand their culture. </p>
<p>Universities need to have the courage to do two contrasting things: they should both acknowledge that the opinions of the CSSA are opinions that many Chinese students hold, and provide avenues for alternative points of view. This would allow students to hear debates about China and reflect on China critically — something they cannot do within Chinese borders. This would not create a new band of anti-PRC revolutionaries, but it would do something rather rare at Australian universities — treat Chinese students as humans with the capacity for rational thought.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86064/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Benney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australian universities shouldn’t silence or be silenced by Chinese students who hold nationalistic views, they should encourage a healthy debate.Jonathan Benney, Lecturer in Chinese Studies, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/546802016-03-07T14:36:49Z2016-03-07T14:36:49ZMassive expansion of universities in Asia raises tough questions on social mobility<p>Universities in East and South-East Asia have experienced significant expansion in the last few decades. Enrolment in higher education in Asia <a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120831155341147">has increased by over 50%</a> in the last 10 years and by a higher percentage in countries such as China. In recent years, universities in mainland China have produced <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28062071">over seven million graduates a year</a>, up from one million in 2000.</p>
<p>This rapid expansion of higher education has brought its own problems, leading to issues over academic standards and quality of universities in mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. My own <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01425692.2015.1111751?journalCode=cbse20">new research</a> has also highlighted strong empirical evidence suggesting that the “massification” of higher education – the extension of university education to the masses and not just an elite – has resulted in graduate unemployment and underemployment in East Asia. </p>
<p>For the most part, the statistics I found tell a worrying story. In South Korea, there are three million economically inactive graduates. In Japan, approximately 38% of graduates were unemployed eight months after graduation in 2009 and graduate employment has not improved since then. In India, one in three young graduates is unemployed. </p>
<p>In China, although accurate data is hard to come by, my research found that in 2013 alone only 38% of graduates were issued contracts – <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0ahUKEwiyxpeo_fvKAhXHvBQKHbQxDgYQFggoMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ied.edu.hk%2Finclude%2Fgetrichfile.php%3Fkey%3D4702ef08506287728ccae43a52a9080d%26secid%3D4163%26filename%3Dapera2014%2FKeynote%2520abstract_Prof%2520Hugh%2520Lauder.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHIzsnjixG7z2u5LlKOLlYEwV6f9g">an indicator</a> of quality jobs. </p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/lDpjn/1/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="750"></iframe>
<p>The table above provides further details about unfavourable graduate employment figures in China, Taiwan and Korea. Hong Kong and Singapore are exceptions to this graduate employment trend because both city states have attempted to <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nZI0CwAAQBAJ&pg=PR3&lpg=PR3&dq=Access+and+Expansion+Post-Massification:+Opportunities&source=bl&ots=X5-zYoictk&sig=gCjKTsdx6HK_muXLFaqYjAogG7o&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5vbHrlITLAhUILhoKHW0MBxUQ6AEIMzAE#v=onepage&q=Access%20and%20Expansion%20Post-Massification%3A%20Opportunities&f=false">set a quota</a> for higher education enrolment, especially for publicly-funded universities. <a href="http://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/about-edb/press/legco/others/legco%20brief-e.pdf">Hong Kong has a 20% cap</a> for the annual cohort of 17- to 18-year-olds admitted to public universities, while Singapore has a cap of 25-30% for the same cohort. </p>
<h2>Jobs for the young</h2>
<p>Against the context of a move to expand higher education, it is apparent that youth unemployment has emerged as a serious social concern confronting a number of Asian countries. </p>
<p>The role of education in upward social mobility is under scrutiny. In a less globalised and more elite higher education system, a university degree may contribute to increased earnings and possibilities for a young graduate. But the status quo has changed with the ever-intensifying globalisation of higher education and its expansion to more and more parts of society. </p>
<p>A degree does not assure employment, high earnings, and upward social mobility. The promotion of social mobility through university credentials has become challenging in both developed and emerging economies. In top-tier colleges and universities in the US, <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Global_Auction.html?id=yZppAgAAQBAJ&source=kp_cover&hl=en">almost three quarters</a> of those entering each year are from the highest socio-economic quartile. The pool of qualified youth is far greater than the number admitted and enrolled.</p>
<p>Similar developments can be easily found in other parts of Asia, particularly when higher education expansion has not kept up with changing labour market needs. The unintended consequence of this has been a growing pressure to create more high-skilled job opportunities, but that pay less. This is a symptom of the over-supply of talents in what has been called the “<a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Global_Auction.html?id=yZppAgAAQBAJ&source=kp_cover&hl=en">Global Auction</a>”, a worldwide competition for good, middle-class jobs. </p>
<h2>What’s the point of a degree?</h2>
<p>It is against this backdrop that questions are being raised about the value of a degree. A 2015 <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21647285-more-and-more-money-being-spent-higher-education-too-little-known-about-whether-it">article in The Economist</a> shed light on the issue of what sort of skills and knowledge sets universities must provide for students who will probably face uncertain futures and unclear global labour markets. We will certainly confront the situation whereby: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The value of a degree from a selective institution depends on its scarcity, good universities have little incentive to produce more graduates. And, in the absence of a clear measure of educational output, price becomes a proxy for quality. By charging more, good universities gain both revenue and prestige. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The expansion of higher education does not necessarily lead to upward social mobility. Yet, it has changed the social and economic role of higher education in the lives of graduates, especially when they begin to cast doubt on the economic return of heavy investment in higher education. </p>
<p>The cruel reality confronting many university graduates is intensified competition, and little choice but to face an “opportunity trap” that has created increasing social congestion for decent jobs.</p>
<p>An over-supply of university graduates carrying high expectations for career development and upward social mobility could create serious social and political pressure – particularly if they keep confronting a mismatch between their expectations and the cruel reality of the global labour market.</p>
<p>We may witness an increase of unhappy young people, which will require East Asian governments to address the widening gap between the changing economic structures and the massive, and growing, supply of qualified graduates.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54680/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Mok Ka-ho is affiliated with the Centre for Global Higher Education at the UCL Institute of Education. He has received funding from the APEC HK Study Centre. </span></em></p>An oversupply of graduates is putting pressure on the social contract in East Asia.Joshua Mok Ka-ho, Vice President and Chair Professor of Comparative Policy, Lingnan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/515962015-12-03T04:32:54Z2015-12-03T04:32:54ZChina’s Confucius Institutes aren’t perfect but have much to offer Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104124/original/image-20151202-22461-1891bfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Confucius Institutes offer China a chance to teach people around the world about the country's language and culture.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Infrastructure development and economic cooperation will probably dominate discussions during the first ever Forum on China-Africa Co-operation on <a href="http://www.focac.org/eng/ltda/dwjbzjjhys_1/">African soil</a>. But education also features on the agenda. This is an important opportunity to reflect on the role and purpose of China’s global Confucius Institutes and Classrooms.</p>
<p>These are set up by China’s government to promote the country’s language, culture and intercultural exchange. There are currently 495 such institutes and 1000 smaller classrooms – affiliated to primary and secondary schools – in more than <a href="http://english.hanban.org/article/2015-10/09/content_618077.htm?">130 countries</a>. The latest <a href="http://english.hanban.org/node_10971.htm">available figures</a> for Africa, from late 2014, show there are 60 institutes and classrooms across the continent. The ratio between the two is not clear.</p>
<p>The institutes give foreigners the chance to learn more about China. Indirectly, at least, they are a way for China to counter the generally negative images about the country by foreign media. </p>
<p>Some critics have described Confucius Institutes as merely crude outlets for propaganda. Is this true, or fair? My research <a href="http://www.tandf.net/books/details/9781138809307/">suggests not</a>. But there are some serious questions African universities must ask when they enter into Confucius Institute partnerships.</p>
<h2>How Confucius Institutes work</h2>
<p>Confucius Institutes are normally organised as joint ventures between Chinese and foreign universities. The institute in Grahamstown, South Africa, is a co-operation between the local Rhodes University and Guangzhou’s Jinan University. In Kenya, the University of Nairobi’s Confucius Institute is partnered with China’s Tianjin Normal University. </p>
<p>The third player in every Confucius Institute is Hanban. This is the China National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, which falls under the Chinese Ministry of Education. </p>
<p>The host university usually provides the premises for the institute. It also sources local staff and pays part of the running costs. China, in turn, normally contributes start-up funding of between US$100,000 and $200,000 for the first couple of years. It dispatches a director and teachers, donates teaching materials and covers the rest of the running costs.</p>
<p>It is this co-operative structure – and the resulting close relationship between foreign universities and the authoritarian Chinese state – which spurs <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/sector-urged-to-put-brakes-on-confucius-institutes-expansion/2016989.article">critics to describe</a> the institutes as either academic malware or propaganda instruments of the Chinese Communist Party. </p>
<p>It is true that Confucius Institutes normally err on the safe side and don’t discuss “sensitive” issues like the banned practice of <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-faith-column/2008/08/falun-gong-party-chinese">Falun Gong</a>, the role of the <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/china-marks-tibet-anniversary-condemns-dalai-lama-150908041048779.html">Dalai Lama</a> or what happened at <a href="http://time.com/2822290/tiananmen-square-massacre-anniversary/">Tiananmen Square</a> in 1989. But I believe that critics go too far in describing them as Cold War style propaganda outlets that spread lies and brainwash their visitors.</p>
<p>Such debates, which are sometimes quite emotional and ideologically charged, are important. But they miss other, more pressing concerns about Confucius Institutes. Globally, the institutes are battling with teacher shortages, insufficient teaching materials and questions around their sustainability. </p>
<p>When it comes to institutes in Africa, it is crucial to interrogate how they create both new opportunities and new dependencies for stakeholders on the continent.</p>
<h2>Opportunity knocks</h2>
<p>For many, if not most universities in Africa, Confucius Institutes are the first and often only contact point for people who want to learn the Chinese language or more about China in general. Numerous European and North American universities have a long history of offering Sinology or China Studies, but this is not the case in Africa. </p>
<p>There were a few small-scale initiatives in a few African countries, but until 2012 there was just one Mandarian program with resident teachers on the African continent and only one research centre dedicated to studying contemporary China. Both of these are at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.</p>
<p>This historical absence of engagement with China on an academic level in Africa suggests that Confucius Institutes could play a more prominent role on the continent. They could be more influential there than in other parts of the world where there are different sites of interaction. Both China and Africa know this. The fifth FOCAC-Beijing Action Plan (2013-2015) says that the:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… two sides will continue to promote the establishment and development of the Confucius Institute and Confucius Classrooms in Africa. China will extend active support in terms of teaching staff, personnel training and teaching materials and equipment. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This direct reference is one of the very few cases where Confucius Institutes are officially mentioned in a foreign policy context. It is proof that the institutes are part of China’s broader foreign relations policy.</p>
<h2>Dependency may be a problem</h2>
<p>But the very reason that Confucius Institutes are perhaps more important on the continent than anywhere else makes them potentially problematic.</p>
<p>Because there is no established infrastructure to engage with China academically and to learn its language, African universities are potentially more vulnerable if Hanban decides to close down Confucius Institutes in the future. It doesn’t matter why this might happen, whether it’s because of “inappropriate” content or financial constraints. If the Confucius Institute goes at many African universities, the China link goes.</p>
<p>This would be tragic. China is not just Africa’s largest trading partner and a major investor – it also plays an increasingly important role for ordinary people in Africa who should have the opportunity to engage with the Middle Kingdom.</p>
<p>Overall, I believe that Confucius Institutes can be very valuable. It is important, though, that local stakeholders – in Africa and elsewhere – know what they are letting themselves in for. They are not only coupling with the Chinese state, but must consider the sometimes overlooked practical issues and potential dependencies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51596/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Falk Hartig receives funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research as Postdoc at the Frankfurt Inter-Centre-Programme on new African-Asian Interactions AFRASO</span></em></p>China’s Confucius Institutes given foreigners a chance to learn more about the country. Africa must be careful that its universities’ partnerships with Confucius Institutes don’t create dependency.Falk Hartig, Postdoctoral Fellow, Goethe University Frankfurt am MainLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/501432015-11-04T06:07:38Z2015-11-04T06:07:38ZChina’s one-child policy helped women make a great leap forward – so what now?<p>The Chinese Community Party’s decision to end its infamous one-child policy has significance beyond its impact on the country’s demographics. What was missing from all the discussion and reflection on the policy’s impact on <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-scrapping-the-one-child-policy-will-do-little-to-change-chinas-population-49982">the size of China’s labour force</a> and on families’ <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-china-ends-the-one-child-policy-what-is-its-legacy-49975">human rights</a> was the positive consequences of the population control policy – particularly for girls’ education. </p>
<p>The one-child policy, introduced in 1978, opened up educational opportunities for urban girls. Before its introduction, large families invested a little in each child or prioritised their resources in favour of sons rather than daughters. </p>
<p>But when parents were restricted to having only one child, and if it happened to be a girl, she benefited from being the focus of all their aspirations and investment. According to a <a href="http://gas.sagepub.com/content/16/1/74.abstract">2002 study</a>, urban families had equal educational expectations for both boy and girl children and invested in the schooling of their only child, no matter what its gender.</p>
<p>The increase in participation of women from the one-child generation in higher education has also been significant. The graph below illustrates the scale of the expansion, by comparing the progression rates into higher education of selected birth cohorts and the percentage of women’s representation in higher education within these cohorts. </p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/OLVM6/1/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>I have selected two age cohorts representing generations before the one-child policy was introduced in 1978, and three cohorts covering the “one-child generation”. For those born before the introduction of the policy, women accounted for around 30% of the total higher education population: men had twice as much representation in higher education than women. This increased to 41% for the 1980-82 cohort and nearly 50% for the 1990-92 cohort. It is clear that the policy was accompanied by a steady increase in women’s participation in higher education.</p>
<h2>Social and political activism</h2>
<p>The one-child generation have been subject to criticism for being little “emperors” or “princesses” living in 4-2-1 families with four grandparents, two parents and one grandchild. Their so-called “individualism” is often linked to the erosion of traditional Chinese culture.</p>
<p>I’ve found that the one-child generation is anything but socially irresponsible. I have been conducting in-depth individual interviews with women and men from the one-child generation who were enrolled in higher education for the past nine years. My upcoming research illustrates a different picture from the widely circulated perceptions on <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/01/china-one-child-policy">the “little emperor cohort”</a>. </p>
<p>The 24 singleton women that I interviewed at eight universities across East China in 2007 generally had high aspirations, regardless of their socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. They were more socially engaged in environmental activism, such as promoting the importance of recycling, saving water and raising awareness of air pollution, than both the 18 singleton men that I interviewed, and 24 other women who didn’t come from a one-child family. </p>
<p>The singleton women were also more politically active at university: more applied for Chinese Communist Party membership than their peers. Out of the 24 singleton women, 20 had applied for membership, compared to 13 of the non-singleton women and five of the male students. The singleton women explained that their more political activism was adopted to minimise the social and gender disadvantages that they expected in the transition to the labour market. </p>
<p>The one-child generation has also <a href="http://jfi.sagepub.com/content/27/3/366.abstract">been linked</a> to the weakening of patrilineal culture – where property and wealth is passed through the male side of the family. This resulted in urban-based parents who provided equal aspirations and investment in their daughters and so created a generation of women with higher education degrees. </p>
<h2>Urban women could miss out</h2>
<p>When the two-child policy <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-34697016">comes into force</a> in China in 2016, those most affected are likely to be urban women. The rural areas will probably be largely unaffected since rural residential status already allowed the couples to have more than one child. But in the cities, where China’s insufficient provision of social welfare, maternity leave and childcare is most acutely felt, the most educated generation of women living in cities could start losing out on competitive careers and promotions. </p>
<p>And if families have one boy and one girl, it’s likely the families will invest more in the boy’s education and aspirations: China is still a patriarchal society with a strong preference for its sons. The gender equality in the urban families achieved during the one-child generation may cease to exist.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/50143/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ye Liu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>China’s population policy helped more women into university, creating a generation with higher aspirations.Ye Liu, Senior Lecturer in International Education, Bath Spa UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/360482015-01-16T06:18:09Z2015-01-16T06:18:09ZWhy reforms to China’s college entrance exam are so revolutionary<p>China’s Ministry of Education has <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-12/16/c_133859432.htm">announced a major reform</a> of the National College Entrance Examination, known as Gaokao. Under the proposed changes, the entry of new students to higher education will no longer be based purely on performance in three major subjects: mathematics, Chinese and English. It will now also take into account other subjects, as well as students’ personal and social character. </p>
<p>These proposed changes, currently <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-12/21/c_133869221.htm">being piloted in Shanghai Municipality and Zhejiang Province</a>, are likely to have a big impact on both individual Chinese students and on the country’s education system. </p>
<h2>Gaokao under fire</h2>
<p>The current Gaokao system, which can be compared to A Level exams in the UK, was established in 1977 and has been <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/world/asia/burden-of-chinas-college-entrance-test-sets-off-wide-debate.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">widely criticised</a>. Chinese universities and colleges focus solely on scores from the test, taken each June, when considering applicants, with obvious consequences for students’ future life-chances. </p>
<p>In order to secure a good grade in the Gaokao, students concentrate on its core subjects from the beginning of secondary school, giving them a very narrow educational focus. Parents, concerned for their only child because of the persistence of China’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/china-one-child-policy-dont-bank-on-a-baby-boom-just-yet-20458">one-child policy</a>, also try to ensure that their children go to schools which have a good record of success in the Gaokao. </p>
<p>Such intensive competition has <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01425692.2013.816237#.VLfXOC42UW4">had a very negative impact</a> on students, on schools and on social equality. For instance, the Gaokao means there is an unequal weighting of educational resources at secondary level <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2753/CSA2162-0555460403#.VLfSpC42UW4">in favour of urban and professional families</a>. </p>
<h2>End to the narrow focus</h2>
<p>Under the proposed reforms, tens of millions of Chinese students, besides studying the three core subjects examined at national level, will now have the opportunity to select three other subjects and to sit the examinations at the provincial level. In addition, results will be graded in A to E bands according to the relative performance of students within each province.</p>
<p>Students will also be evaluated on their personal and social qualities. This will require secondary school students to present a record of information relating to moral standards, physical health, general culture, such as hobbies, and social or community engagement and contribution, such as volunteering. </p>
<p>The planned reforms send a clear message to secondary school students and their teachers that a narrow focus on classroom rote learning, together with a lack of engagement with the wider community, may not be enough to ensure entry to higher education, which is so important for future life chances. </p>
<h2>Impact on schools, subjects and teachers</h2>
<p>The reform should have a major impact on the organisation and management of secondary education in China which, for almost 40 years, has been dominated by the Gaokao. One effect is likely to be an end to the strict divide between the natural sciences and technology and the humanities and social sciences. Students will be given the opportunity to select and combine those subjects in which they are interested. This will require a reorganisation of school resources and also impact on teacher education and training. </p>
<p>Schools will also be required to provide additional resources and support for student participation in and contribution to the wider community. This will present challenges for school principals and other staff. This will require a reorganisation of school resources and also impact on teacher education and training</p>
<p>It’s likely that the impacts will not be confined to the secondary education system. The planned reform could <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-12/18/c_133864657.htm">create more space for higher education institutions</a> to evaluate and select students based on their core and selected subjects, but also through an assessment of their personal and social characteristics. In the longer term, there should also be an impact on the employability of graduates, so employers also have a stake in the proposed reform. </p>
<h2>Opposition likely</h2>
<p>The pilots in Shanghai Municipality and Zhejiang should be appraised not only from the perspective of student academic choice and broader educational development, but also on how the reforms improve on the current Gaokao system. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69111/original/image-20150115-5170-g2ysb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69111/original/image-20150115-5170-g2ysb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69111/original/image-20150115-5170-g2ysb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69111/original/image-20150115-5170-g2ysb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69111/original/image-20150115-5170-g2ysb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69111/original/image-20150115-5170-g2ysb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/69111/original/image-20150115-5170-g2ysb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parents pray for good results.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/59153559@N05/14929336356/sizes/l">Siyuant</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is very important in terms of feasibility. It would be optimistic to assume that the reform could be adopted nationwide by the 2017 target date without opposition. The need to overcome resource shortages in many schools and to reform teacher attitudes through training are two obstacles. Parents will also need to be persuaded of the merits of the change.</p>
<p>Given the conflict of values within Chinese society, it will not be easy to secure consensus about how university entrants should be evaluated on their moral standards, personality and community engagement. This is related to another fundamental issue in contemporary China – the relationship between equal opportunity in education and a broader social justice. This has yet to be considered in current debates or in government policy documents. But it should be, as it’s likely that the proposed Gaokao reform will have both educational and social effects.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36048/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>China’s Ministry of Education has announced a major reform of the National College Entrance Examination, known as Gaokao. Under the proposed changes, the entry of new students to higher education will…(William) John Morgan, Professor and UNESCO Chair of the Political Economy of Education and Senior Fellow, China Policy Institute, University of NottinghamBin Wu, Senior Research Fellow, China Policy Institute, and Centre for Chinese Migration Studies, School of Contemporary Chinese Studies, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.