Naming rights for school investors

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Naming rights for school investors

Private middle and primary schools can, for the first time, be named after their financial backers, an official from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education said Tuesday.

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Private middle and primary schools can, for the first time, be named after their financial backers, an official from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education said Tuesday.

Public schools can also take advantage of the new policy, said the official, who would only reveal her surname as Zhou, from the commission's Development and Planning Office.

She noted that so far, there are few cases in the city where enterprises invested large amounts of money in public schools.

Before the notice was issued by the commission earlier this month, privately-run middle and primary schools were not allowed to name investors' in school monickers without approval from education authorities.

In fact, some private schools in Beijing have already been named after their investors, such as the Tongren Middle School in Chaoyang District and Beijing Jiahua Middle School in Fangshan District.

"Many private schools are willing to be named after their investors and it poses no conflict with any laws or regulations, so my commission lifted the ban this year," said Zhou.

According to the notice, private schools do not need to have the word "Beijing" or the district where they are located in their school name.

At the same time, enterprises or individuals investing in schools do not have management power and cannot interfere with school affairs.

Lu Peihong, deputy head of the Huijia kindergarten in Haidian District -- a famous privately-run one, said the latest move from the education commission respects the interests of investors and could streamline the procedure of applying the name for private schools.

"It may help people to have a clear impression and understanding of a school if it is named after a famous education organization or enterprises," said Lu.

"Meanwhile, investors can promote their brands by titling the schools. After all, entrepreneurs ploughing money into education today are doing it as an investment, rather than as a donation," said Lu.

The Law on Private Education Promotion, taking effect in September 2003, stipulated that "private school investors can get a reasonable repayment after deducting schooling costs and reserving development funds and other expenses."

Beijing approved establishment of private schools in 1992. Private education has been on the upswing in recent years.

So far, the city have more than 80 private middle and primary schools. About 1 per cent of school-age children attend these schools.

Facilities in most private educational institutions have improved as they now have a strong private capital base, compared with poorly managed ones years ago, which temporarily invited retired teachers for classes, put up posters on trees to attract students, and rented classrooms for teaching activities.

Source: China Daily

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