An experimental university in China that pledged to be independent of the official education system by not requiring students to undergo the national college entrance exams (gaokao) for admission is now under fire for its board. From the Chronicle of Higher Education:
China’s pioneering South University of Science and Technology has come under fire for appointing a board loaded with government and Communist Party officials despite pledging to maintain an independent administration and curriculum, the South China Morning Post reports. The newly opened university in Shenzhen is widely seen as a litmus test for higher-education reform in China as its outspoken president, Zhu Qingshi, has criticized national government meddling in universities. His battles with the Ministry of Education to obtain a license, ignore college-entrance-exam scores, and enroll the first 45 students in March drew national coverage.
Read more about the university from China Daily and “China’s unconventional university gets mixed welcome” from SciDev.net.
