It is not high housing prices but the unreasonable salary system that is the main reason for the lack of young teachers, says an article in Oriental Morning Post. The following is an excerpt:

Gu Binlin, a CPPCC member and president of Tsinghua University, said he was worried about the housing problems of young teachers. Their incomes cannot match the rise in housing prices and this will lead to a drain of young teachers in universities.

Admittedly, high housing prices is a factor, more importantly it the unreasonable salary system for university teachers.

In recent years, universities have repeatedly reformed their emolument system. This has left the impression in the society that college teachers can earn high salaries. Indeed, some professors have been viewed as rich due to their various sources of making money such as giving lectures and applying for funds for research from various foundations.

But in colleges, the income gap is widening. Especially for young teachers who are not able to raise funds for research and rarely have an alternative source of income. Some lecturers in colleges only make a little more than 1,000 yuan ($140) per month.

These teachers are usually burdened with heavy teaching and research work. But professors, especially those who have administrative titles, not only receive much higher salaries but also easily obtain research programs which they assign to young teachers.

This reality makes young teachers lose confidence. Universities should look into the source of the problem. They should do away with the present seniority-based salary system and adopt a meritocracy-based one.

(China Daily March 17, 2008)