Urgent for Party to win students over: expert
A senior university leader warned in an article published in the latest issue of Qiushi, a journal under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), on Wednesday that ideological work on campus will influence the stability of the State power, reigniting public discussion on ideological education among youth.
Referring to a student protest in the late 1980s, Zhang Jianming, executive deputy secretary of the CPC Committee of Renmin University of China, wrote that overlooking ideological work in colleges will inevitably lead to grave consequences.
Not only universities, but all of society will be destabilized, according to his article.
It is not the first time for experts and officials to urge stronger ideology education for the younger generation, who they believe may have weak faith in Marxism ideology.
The Party-run journal Hongqi Wengao (Red Flag Manuscript) ran an article in October, pointing out that some young people are increasingly unfamiliar with the discourse system of Marxism or have even rejected the ideology.
The article said that some young people neither read Marxist classics nor grasp the rationale of Marxism.
"Their belief in Marxism is not profound enough. Western values, including money worship, consumerism and individualism, have influenced some young people imperceptibly, making them pursue material comforts and sensory stimulation while losing faith," it added.
"Since some students do not pay attention to Marxist values, it is urgent for the Party to win them over," Tang Zhongbao, an associate professor at the School of Marxism of Jiangnan University, told the Global Times.
Tang suggested creative and entertaining forms of ideological education to cater to students.
Zhang also pointed out that young teachers should be a prime target for strengthening ideological work.
Zhang said teachers under 40 account for 60 percent of the faculty. Among them, over 20 percent studied abroad. Some universities have seen over half of their teachers boast overseas learning experience.
Some of them are uncritical of Western social systems, culture and values, adding that their views may be "superficial," he noted.
"It is more difficult to give ideological education to teachers than to students since teachers are more determined to resist such education, even if their understanding is superficial," Tang said.
Addressing a forum in Beijing in January, Chinese education minister Yuan Guiren encouraged college officials to "never let textbooks promoting Western values appear in our classes," the Xinhua News Agency reported. The remarks triggered wide discussions.
