Trendy new college pre-tests sign of what's wrong with higher ed
- By Wan Lixin
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, February 17, 2012
Aim of education
China may need one or two universities that look beyond "success" (meaning money and official titles), in order to turn out a few intellectuals.
Lewis Coser said that "intellectuals are gatekeepers of ideas and fountainheads of ideologies."
Richard Hofstadter said that the intellectual lives for ideas, that he has a sense of dedication to the life of the mind, somewhat like a religious commitment; that he is engaged - he is pledged, committed, and established.
In other words, an intellectual is a caretaker of ideas, one who defends social justice and is concerned about human destiny.
Whether he or she keeps an eye on a celebrity TV forum, whether the candidate can cook a meal of rice mixed with eggs, whether the person is facile in speech or looks smart - these are less relevant in light of these large purposes.
They are custodians of morality, critics of society, more interested in ultimate values than values governing economic and political reality.
Obviously, these qualifications would contribute very little to the practical business of life.
Sadly, some top universities today take great pride in the number of top officials among their alumni.
Even professors now can be better evaluated in terms of corresponding official titles.
Professors who are members of the Academy of Sciences, for instance, are the most sought after for they are entitled to vice-ministerial perks in housing, transport, healthcare, and other benefits.
The pre-tests were originally devised as a means of alleviating students' burdens in preparing for the National College Entrance Exam, often seen as an all-or-nothing step to success. For years people have argued that there should be alternatives to the one single determinative test.
But today many people complain that the treatment seems worse than the disease, for these alternative tests and interviews only add to the stress and burden.
As we can see, there are more compelling reasons to reconsider the pre-test tests.
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