A Breakthrough Made in University MergingRemarkable progress has been achieved by China in the reform of higher education, particularly in the merging of universities. So we should sum up the experience in an earnest way and solve the problems occurred in our work for the further deepening of the reform, said Chen Zhili, minister of Education.Since the reform in higher education was carried out in 1992, 556 institutions of higher learning (387 being the institutes in general and 169 for adults education) have been merged into 232 (212 being those of the general and 20 for adults), a cut of 324. This year, 53 general universities and institutes under the administration of various ministries of the State Council were merged into 20, and 6 institutes for adult incorporated into 5 general ones. By way of merging, a series of universities with comprehensive, multi-specialties featuring liberal arts, science and technology, agriculture and medicine and so on, have come into being. After the merging most universities with their resources shared and making up the inferior with those of the superior have achieved considerable progress and improvement in the teaching, quality of education, efficiency of running schools and enhancement of overall strength, thus up onto a road for smooth development. The number of institutions of higher learning was reduced through the merging and readjustment. And in some areas the cases as duplication in the setting of disciplines and specialties, too many single-disciplined schools, small schools and other problems have also been improved greatly. Chen said that the higher education reform has played a significant role and laid a solid foundation for the better development of China's education in the 21st century. We should consolidate the result gained in our education reform and deepen the system reform in various aspects so as to fully motivate the enthusiasm of teachers and maintain stability in universities. |
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