|
Minister slamming high school fees to retire
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-01 08:36 Zhang Baoqing, a senior education official known
for his outspokenness, will retire soon, according to an announcement last week.
Zhang Baoqing, deputy minister of education
ministry, is to retire at the age of 61. He's famous
for frankly expressing his
views. [xinhua] | The 61-year-old
official, known for frankly expressing his views, had been in the education
ministry for 26 years.
He harshly criticized unreasonable school fees and spoken aggressively in
support of compulsory schooling in rural areas. Zhang had openly criticized the
policy of “industrializing” education.
In his latest outburst against the mainland’s education system Aug. 29, Zhang
criticized eight provincial governments for failing to implement loan projects
for poor students, a policy the Central Government had launched in 1999.
“Some provincial-level leaders do not understand the importance of education.
They would rather spend billions of yuan on big projects, while allocating
nothing to poor students,” Zhang was quoted as saying at his last news
conference.
“They just use a lot of excuses to avoid helping poor students, although they
do have money.”
According to the ministry, the Central Government estimated that at least 10
billion yuan a year would be needed to student loans. But only 5.15 billion yuan
was allocated last year, benefiting only 650,000
students.
|
