[photopress:mba_jnqua_and_sloan_1.JPG,full,alignright]What follows is a somewhat contentious view but it has merit, it contains relevancy. Xue Jinwen, director of the Human Rights Research Center of Nankai University in Tianjin.
The development of higher education has contributed greatly to China’s human rights, an expert told the ongoing Beijing Forum on Human Rights.
The historic development of China’s higher education was of positive and significant importance to the development of the country’s human rights cause.
Noting that education was an important measurement of human rights (in itself a somewhat contentious point.) Xue Jinwen said China’s higher education had developed swiftly over the past decade. (Which is undoubtedly true and could not be argued against.)
The number of on-campus college students tripled from 6.23 million in 1998 to 18.85 million in 2007. Expenditures on higher education increased from RMB54.9 billion($7.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 1998 to RMB255 billion in 2005.
All true. Every bit of it.
Xue Jinwen said the development of higher education had a far-reaching influence on economic development and further guaranteed citizens’ rights to education. There are few who would argue with that, not as an absolute but as a strong trend.
He said that the government had taken concrete measures to ensure equal rights to education regardless of income, including exemptions from tuition and other charges in the nine-year compulsory education system and the establishment of financial aid for needy university students. This is not quite true but of all the nations in the world China has used education for advancement longer and, perhaps, better, than any other country. The examination system which stood for centuries meant the senior civil service got there by merit.
Xue Jinwen said, ‘China has made great efforts to help poor people to get equal access to higher education, and by so doing has highlighted social fairness.’
With a population with a tertiary education exceeding 70 million, China ranks second in the world in terms of workers with a higher education.
Xue Jinwen said the development of higher education had opened up a new horizon for Chinese citizens to seek personal development and helped to secure their rights for development.
So, yes, it is true China has an education system mainly built on democracy. And there is little argument that it is making tremendous strides in other directions.
But there is still a long way to go before China can claim that all human rights are fairly and equally treated. It is getting there. And probably getting there faster than any country in history. But no one would argue that there is still much to be done.
Source: Science Guide