It is an embarrassment to the School of Liberal Arts of Zhejiang University and also an insult to the quality evaluation standards of teachers in higher education institutions.

Zhu Miaohua, 48, a lecturer in the School of Liberal Arts at Zhejiang University, has been popular with his students for 20 years for his excellent teaching of the history of Western art. He ranked seventh of all the teachers in the university in a survey of teaching quality among students in 2003.

Unfortunately, he was laid off because he failed to have any books or dissertations published. He still teaches in the capacity of a laid-off teacher, because students want him to stay, but he is no longer a lecturer.

However, he does actually have a book in the pipeline, according to a news report. His publisher has urged him time and again for the book, but he is not totally satisfied with some parts of it. His attitude to leave no room for anything undesired has delayed the publishing of his research.

A laid-off teacher has to teach because his teaching is so popular with students, but he has to be laid off because he has put so much energy into his teaching work that he could hardly spare any time for his research.

The paradox has touched off a debate about the role of universities and that of university teachers as well.

What are universities for? One doubts anyone would challenge the answer that they are for educating students, and for training students in special areas so that they can contribute what they have learned to society.

There are indeed some universities which boast very good scientists and very good labs. They produce not only good graduates but also scientific research results. Some professors of liberal arts do have books or dissertations in their specialist areas published.

Probably because of the latter fact, most universities in the country have a rule that a lecturer will be laid off unless he or she is involved in a scientific research project, or has a book or dissertation published.

Zhu Shiqing, president of the University of Science and Technology of China, said that not all universities should strive for the goal of squeezing into the ranks of research-oriented institutions of higher learning.

It is wrong to require that first class universities be research-oriented, he argued.

There should be different types of universities, and research-oriented institutions are just one kind. The same is true of teachers. Some are quite talented at passing their knowledge on to students, some are good at conducting research and some are excellent at both. There should not be one benchmark for teachers of different types.

Nanjing University has set a good example. It has a policy of "three equal treatments," which treats teaching and research equally, encourages those who want to balance both, and promotes excellence in either field.

For a research-oriented university, scientific research is important and will aid teaching. But still the education of students is the first priority and scientific research results should never be achieved at the cost of teaching.

Research will help teaching, but those professors who are excellent in research are not necessarily outstanding in teaching.

Teaching is an art, which requires efforts from a teacher to find a particular method to best package what he or she is to pass on to the students, and to best stimulate students' interest in acquiring the packaged knowledge. So it is unfair to measure a university teacher only with the benchmark of research results.

(China Daily December 1, 20005)