Editor’s note: The following article was translated and edited from a Xiaoxiang Morning post article and an ifeng.com survey. The article reports on the comments made by the president of Peking University during a recent public speech that criticised the U.S. Education system, followed by a summary of netizen reactions to his comments.
photo: ifeng
On December 24th, Zhou Qifeng, President of Peking University, became the focus of media attention after he criticised the United States education system during a speech in Changsha, Hunan Province. At one point during the speech, addressing those who’ve held negative opinions of China’s education system, Zhou Qifeng had this to say: "I think that the U.S. education system is a complete mess. None of the U.S. presidents understand how to respect people. They’re always forcing their own desires on other people. In this way, it seems that their educational system is a complete mess." As for China’s educational system, Zhou Qifeng noted that the country’s recent years of rapid economic development have shown that it has been very successful: "Our country is progressing, and this progress has relied on the education and training of talented people." After reports of Zhou Qifeng’s comments spread, it became a hotly discussed topic online, with many netizens voicing their displeasure with the president. In particular, netizens and news websites frequently painted Zhou Qifeng as either a hypocrite – as he himself received his masters and doctoral degrees from a U.S. university (University of Massachusetts) – or as arrogant, with many finding it hard to believe that these harsh words came from the president of one of China’s most highly esteemed universities. Following the report, ifeng.com conducted a survey, to measure netizens reactions to the Peking University president’s comments. As of writing, 40,174 users participated in the survey.
Results from the Online Survey:
1) Do you agree with Zhou Qifeng that the U.S. education system is a complete mess? |
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- Agree. The quality of the U.S. education system is bad. |
5.9% |
2,366 votes | |
- Agree. Zhou studied in the U.S.; he likely has an understanding of the situation. |
2.7% |
1,079 votes | |
- Don't agree. If it's so bad, why does China's elite send their children to study in the U.S.? |
45.4% |
18,242 votes | |
- Don't agree. The U.S is a superpower; if its education system were bad, it would have been dragged down. |
43.6% |
17,492 votes | |
- Unsure. |
2.4% |
968 votes | |
2) Do you think that China’s education system has been successful in recent years? |
|||
- Successful. It has driven the country's rapid economic development. |
2.9% |
1,146 votes | |
- Successful. The education level of Chinese people has notably improved. |
4.4% |
1,757 votes | |
- Not successful. In many fields, China has failed to cultivate "top-notch talent". |
23.1% |
9,281 votes | |
- Not successful. There has been a clear decrease in the moral qualities of people. |
68.3% |
27,411 votes | |
- Unsure. |
1.4% |
552 votes | |
3) What do you think about Zhou Qifeng's opinion of the U.S. education system? |
|||
- It demonstrates the self-confidence of the president of an elite Chinese university. |
6.6% |
2,636 votes | |
- He's not overly concerned with speaking properly; he's more of an individualist. |
5.5% |
2,197 votes | |
- There was no factual basis to what he said. It was sheer blind arrogance. |
73.1% |
29,346 votes | |
- Perhaps he was quoted out of context, distorting his original meaning. |
13.0% |
5,223 votes | |
- Unsure. |
1.9% |
749 votes | |
4) Why do you think Zhou Qifeng made such a statement? |
|||
- China's recent achievements are obvious, he was confident in stating as much. |
7.4% |
2,961 votes | |
- For a person (like Zhou) who lacks "humanistic literacy", it’s difficult to have an advanced idea of education. |
22.1% |
8,890 votes | |
- Chinese universities are just administrative bodies, and university presidents are similar to government officials. They have no real understanding of education. |
65.6% |
26,341 votes | |
- Other |
4.9% |
1953 votes | |
Netizen comments
The following are a few of the top comments from the survey on ifeng.com.
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User: KUAIBO_14976914 49,015 people "recommend"
"It’s unfortunate for Peking University that someone of such a [low] standard is its president."
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User: 守望自由灯塔 34,994 people "recommend"
"I'm doubtful… a cynic who sings praises for his own university, a university that stifles the thoughts of its students… what kind of "talented people" will this kind of university educate?"
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User: Tangers 23,134 people "recommend"
"It seems that every year, half of the graduating class competes to go to these "complete mess" universities to pursue advanced degrees; and once graduated, many try to stay in the United States permanently. It seems that students have already "voted with their feet". [Zhou Qifeng’s] opinion is one-sided, the grounds on which his argument is based are weak and his "proof" is non-scientific. One can only say that he made irresponsible remarks, and that he’s did it to steal the spotlight. I agree with what previous users said, this real is Peking University misfortune."
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User: ad1979001 19,916 people "recommend"
"Following this remark, the world laughed [at him]!"
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User: xzylrqc 8,489 people "recommend"
"How is it that someone with a first grade education became the president of a university?"
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User: icemanbo 3,841 people "recommend"
"Frog at the bottom of the well."
[Chinese idiom. 井底之蛙 - A person with a limited outlook]
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Source: xxcb.cn, ifeng survey, ifeng comments
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Keywords: Peking University President Zhou Qifeng differences in Chinese and U.S. education Chinese netizens reactions and surveys
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@eyecoin; You are being sarcastic, right? Because if you aren't, then you are seriously misinformed or simply ignorant of the facts. Most of the students I know who have gone on to study in the U.S. return to China in tears at how hard the collegiate courses are. They can no longer plagiarize with immunity, their professors treat them like adults, and expect them to act like adults. They are not coddled, babied, or given special status.
In essence, they are expected to actually do the work well, and to think! Which is one reason why an Bachelor's Degree from most U.S. universities is work a Master's Degree from China. Get your facts straight, and quite being an apologist for the corrupt, failed educational system in China.
Jan 08, 2012 21:12 Report Abuse
From a European perspective, American education is indeed rather bad. Even lots of university courses are high school level, and lots of high school courses are practically primary school level. And indeed, average levels of education are lower than in Europe, and public discourse is far more superificial.
Jan 04, 2012 17:02 Report Abuse
I ACTUALLY STUDIED AT PEKING'S INTERNATIONAL MBA PROGRAM AS A VISITING STUDENT IN THE PAST AND I WAS SURPRISED HOW EASY IT WAS. IT'S PROBABLY EQUIVALENT TO A COMMUNITY COLLEGE LEVEL COURSE OR A UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX CLASS FOR UNDERGRADS, NOT A GRADUATE LEVEL COURSE, AND THIS IS THE TOP SCHOOL IN CHINA.
OBVIOUSLY HE IS BIASED AS EVERYONE KNOWS CHINA HAS DEVELOPED NOT BECAUSE OF THE SMARTS OF THEIR PEOPLE (ATTRIBUTED TO THEIR EDUCATION SYSTEM AS HE PROCLAIMS), BUT BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF SMARTS, WHICH CREATES THE CHEAP LABOR-EXPORT MODEL.
OBVIOUSLY THE MAN WAS VENTING AND FRUSTRATED, PROBABLY UNDER A LOT OF PRESSURE, SO I'D GIVE HIM A BREAK, BUT DON'T COMPARE CHINA TO USA, NOT EVEN SAME LEVEL HERE.
Jan 03, 2012 18:41 Report Abuse
upper case lettering was used to get your attention to read the post, looks like it worked. *also note if you studied business from a non AACSB accredited school, your diploma is as useful as a roll of toilet paper.* no school in china is solely accredited.
Jan 04, 2012 06:29 Report Abuse
a person at this post and position shall know whats he addressing and whats he actually saying. experience effort people judgement not education. though education is key for building, whenever the matter of country comes and life of millions are counted every citizens of the country do take action for whatever is necessary and need. for china they need to reform their educations system and USA is still much power ful to hold its position right there... though i am not such fan of america, but you have to respect and apprecitate people or country achievement...... Stop blame games chinese, start working on reforming your system, do not be democratic but be something what you people exactly want to be.
Dec 29, 2011 23:54 Report Abuse
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