Responding to the issue of graduate employment choice, Wang Xuming, spokesman for the Ministry of Education, told a news briefing on November 28: "If a graduate student from a noted university went to raise pigs, the media should not make a fuss about it." This made a man well-known for his harangues the target of criticism once again.

 

Before assuming his current post in 2003, Wang, a graduate of Beijing Normal College (predecessor of today's Capital Normal University), had worked as a teacher at a middle school in a Beijing suburb for seven years, and as a reporter for China Education Daily for another seven years. Beijing-based Youth Weekend interviewed him on December 15.

 

Wang Xuming (file photo)

 

Youth Weekend: Did you read the article carried by Hainan's Securities Herald on March 20 that asked you to resign?

 

Wang: That's not the worst. The Outlook Weekly once published an article that questioned the Ministry of Education for choosing me as the spokesman. "There must be something wrong," it said.

 

I'm just an ordinary college graduate. It's my rich working experiences, I guess, that make me different from the common run. I always believed that experiences rather than excellent academic credentials are what really count in life.

 

The newly established spokesman system is far from perfect and mature in China, forcing those concerned to perform a balancing act. Once taking this high-risk job, instead of getting rich or promoted, one can potentially gain eternal notoriety. Probably two decades later people will be able to understand my situation.

 

I've attended many training classes hosted by the State Council Information Office, made a study tour of some dozen countries, and had a face-to-face talk with the spokesman of the UN Secretary-General. In my view, a spokesman must have a very high degree of political understanding and familiarize himself with various state policies so as to effectively act as the government's mouthpiece. An ideal spokesman is like an imported high-quality microphone that can help embellish the government's voice.

 

Youth Weekend: So you mean the job of a spokesman is to prettify reality?

 

Wang: This is just an analogy. A spokesman is to face the media and the public on behalf of his own department. So far I have not committed an error whilst making announcements. Following a press conference, Minister of Education Zhou Ji watches the tape from start to finish, showing me where I should pause, where I should change tone. To be quite honest about it, he has never criticized me personally.

 

However, I received much criticism from the netizens. Most important, a spokesman must have a good psychological quality, adopt a rational attitude toward other people's rebukes, and try to explore public feelings based on their complaints.

 

Youth Weekend: Ninety percent of the attacks published on the Internet were against the remarks about expensive schooling you made during this year's NPC (National People's Congress) and CPPCC (Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) sessions. Do you have anything to say about that incident?

 

Wang: In that case my remarks had been quoted completely out of context. Here is what I said exactly: In the era of planned economy, from primary school to university a student was enrolled with waived tuition. Nevertheless, under the circumstances of market economy, families have to pay for their children's education expenses at the non-compulsory stage. Attending renowned universities like Peking (Beida) and Tsinghua with limited education resources is too expensive for some families to afford. It's like shopping -- a rich person would go to a supermarket to order a suit priced at 10,000 yuan while a poor man can only spend 100 yuan to buy a jacket from a small store. Regardless of their economic conditions, some parents tend to send their children to famous but costly universities. This practice is irrational and has largely helped to spread the misconception of "expensive schooling."

 

Unfortunately, what I said was falsified on the Internet into "Rich students can go to Beida and Tsinghua while poor students need not attend school." Sometimes I do feel the media is too powerful to resist. The more I explained, the more I was reproached.

 

Youth Weekend: At a press conference on September 25, you said the nation has established a complete system to financially aid needy students. And some media that continued calling on people from all walks of life to extend a helping hand to poor students have been criticized by you as either ignorant or intentionally disregarding state policies.

 

Wang: In my opinion, our media have indeed held long-standing mistaken ideas in terms of publicizing state laws, policies and regulations. Specifically, they've paid high attention to individual cases while ignoring the principal aspect as well as timely, accurate, comprehensive and effective transmission of information.

 

For example, a TV station can spend half an hour describing a student's poverty-stricken life, but will not spend 15 minutes explaining state policies that can benefit millions upon millions of students in a similar situation.

 

The current grant system has proved to be effective and has resolved most of the country's education-related problems. Nevertheless, the media are still encouraging people to donate money, which in fact could only boost the recipients' dependence. A student once said: "I would rather receive donations than applying for a study loan, which I still have to repay in the future."

 

As a proverb runs, "Give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish, he will never go hungry."

 

Youth Weekend: Based on the gross school enrollment rate of 20 percent for higher education and 95 percent for elementary education, you concluded on December 22, 2005 that the country's education reform was successful, which was later labeled by the netizens as one of the top ten lies in China that year.

 

Wang: Well, there are different ways to measure good and bad, normally leading to different conclusions. The criterion I used is to see whether or not a practice can benefit the great majority of the people. In the past, of 100 students only four or five were able to go to college, and the gross enrollment rate for elementary education was no more than 30 to 40 percent. Both have seen marked improvement through our reforms.

 

I won't deny that in some remote areas, students still don't have qualified teachers and spacious schoolhouses. At any rate, statistics amply prove that educational reform and development is successful.

 

Youth Weekend: A survey conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2005 showed that nearly 80 percent of the respondents were "very unsatisfied" with education in the country. So don't you think your conclusion is somewhat one-sided?

 

Wang: First of all, I didn't know that survey you mentioned. It might be helpful for the decision-makers to revise and perfect relevant policies, but I don't think it can lead to the conclusion that the reform came unstuck.

 

Second of all, I have implicit faith in my conclusion, which is based on facts. Personally I would interpret the public's discontent as greater expectations for the future.

 

Youth Weekend: Can graduate students raising pigs be rated as an example of "successful education reform?"

 

Wang: As higher education becomes universal, the issue of employment for college students needs to be tackled in a systematic and coordinated fashion. Raising pigs is not a humble job. The students have to transform their thinking about employment at first to adapt themselves to the changed circumstances.

 

(China.org.cn by Shao Da, December 30, 2006)