Some in education take wrong stand on major issues: minister
China's education minister reiterated his warning to Party members in the education sector not to "challenge the political baseline" after three more university heads were sacked in the anti-corruption drive.
In an interview with a newspaper affiliated with the Party discipline watchdog, published on Wednesday, Yuan Guiren said that some Party members in the education sector lack a clear understanding or have taken the wrong stand on major issues. "A few people's speech and behavior have challenged the political and legal baseline," he said.
Yuan said some universities' leadership have failed to implement adequate supervision in class, seminars or workshops in the fields of philosophy and the social sciences. He also said there was not enough political screening when it came to hiring and academic exchanges.
Yuan's statement comes shortly after three university heads were removed from their post, including Wang Cizhao, former president of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, who held an extravagant wedding for his daughter; Yang Fangchun, former Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications vice president, who listed fake expenditures to gain profit; and Liu Ya, former vice president of the University of International Business and Economics, who violated disciplines by taking part-time jobs.
Earlier last week, eight officials from the Communication University of China were punished for luxury cars and spacious offices, or attempting to cover up the university's poor finances.
"The punishment serves two purposes: to strike fear in people and to reform their behavior," Zhi Zhenfeng, an associate research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
Whether or not the punishment was related to ideology, Zhi said Yuan's speech aims to draw the "red line" for educators, especially Party members.
"In China, ideological work from the Party extends to universities. Politics and education cannot be fully separated," Zhi said.
In February, the education minister wrote in Party magazine Qiushi that "universities are at the forefront of ideological work and young teachers as well as students are the main target of hostile forces, who try to infiltrate and divide China."
Yuan recommended the creation of a textbook system based on Marxist guidelines, and to "firmly boycott textbooks from the West that spread wrong ideas."
In July, Lingnan Normal University professor Liang Xinsheng was removed from his post for publishing blogs on Sina Weibo, the Xinhua News Agency reported. His posts were deemed to have "damaged the Party and the country's image, causing harmful social influences."
