Second Lu Xun Literature Prize Winning Works Series. Report Literature

Author: Yang Kuangman / Xiao Lijun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features: The Lu Xun Literature Prize is a national, high-level literary award, and in the eyes of domestic writers, its status is comparable to the Nobel Prize. The winning works of the Second Lu Xun Literature Prize National Excellent Report Literature Award include: He Jianming's Tears Are Gold, Wang Shuzeng's The Korean War in Northeast Asia, Mei Jie's The Confession of the West, Li Mingsheng's China 863, and Yang Ligang's Life and Death on the Edge.
Excerpt: The allocation of family education funds has long remained at the 12% level, only sufficient to cover the "personnel costs" of educational institutions, while all other endeavors are like a clever woman lacking rice to cook. The education sector had previously explored and implemented systems such as commissioned training, (commissioned training by others), and self-funded education in the 1980s and early 1990s to alleviate the shortage of education funds. The results were either the issue of "scoring money to make up for insufficient funds" or some universities adhering to teaching quality while rejecting the implementation of such "commissioned trainees." Additionally, the allocation of commissioned trainees brought numerous problems. In 1994, after extensive investigation and deliberation, the state decided to transition from pilot programs to implementing a comprehensive tuition-based education system in all higher education institutions. Why? It was clear: the country could not bear the heavy burden forever. In developed Western countries, public schools account for only 20-30% of the total, yet in our developing poor nation, 100% of higher education is funded by the state. Regardless of how much a university requires annually, even an average student costs 10,000 yuan per year, and 500 million students amount to 50 billion yuan! It must be emphasized that as the state increasingly struggles under the weight of such student burdens, on the other hand, household bank deposits across the nation are growing at a rate of 30% annually, reaching a total of 500 billion yuan by the end of 1997! While personal finances are expanding, yet they are unwilling to spend a single penny for their children's higher education—such a nation has almost no chance of avoiding collapse.
Consider this phenomenon: In July 1997, a hotel owner in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, advertised in a local newspaper to hire a full-time private tutor for his daughter, promising a reward of 30,000 yuan if the student ranked in the top 5 of the class annually, and 8,000 yuan for the top 10. Upon entering university, an additional one-time reward of 150,000 yuan would be given. The private tutor's compensation package included free meals and accommodation, a bedroom equipped with air conditioning, a computer, and a television, with a monthly salary exceeding 1,200 yuan. It is almost a common social phenomenon to spend heavily on private tutors and elite middle schools for children's higher education. Just observe the intense competition of the "middle school entrance exam" and the sacrifices parents make to secure top-tier schools at any cost—who can say how many are not doing so for their children's university education? Since middle school fees are willingly or fully affordable by most families, why should university fees be any different? Driven by the bigger picture and the realities of the nation, the government and education sector ultimately made the major decision that university education would require tuition in the future. This was a shock to the Chinese people. In fact, it had come too late. Its implementation was born out of necessity, and its delay to this day was also due to necessity—the nation still has hundreds of millions of families living in low-income conditions unable to sustain themselves financially. As a result, the state continues to bear about 80% of each student's total education costs.
The People's Republic prioritizes its people. The state also considers the special circumstances of certain professional colleges, stipulating that students in fields such as agriculture, education, geology, petroleum, sports, navigation, and ethnic studies who receive national professional scholarships are exempt from tuition fees. According to assessments by the education sector and relevant social research institutions, the annual expenses for a tuition-paying university student range between 6,000 and 10,000 yuan, a figure manageable for most families. The education sector believes that, according to market economy theory, the returns a university graduate will achieve over their lifetime will be substantial, making the 20,000-30,000 yuan investment during their studies seem insignificant. The state's accounts are clear and favorable, beyond reproach.
However, university fees remain a shockwave across countless families. The reason for such a massive impact stems from two factors: traditional mindset and indeed insurmountable financial difficulties. The former is a matter of (conceptual renewal), which can be addressed through persuasion and education. The latter, however, is a chasm that cannot be crossed in a day—whose responsibility is it to fill it? Statistics show that over 60% of university students come from rural and remote regions. Similarly, data indicates that the average annual income per capita in rural areas is around 1,200 yuan. These two facts highlight a critical issue: in rural areas, if a family has a university student, nearly all of their annual income is likely spent on that student. If this assumption holds true, then at least half of all rural students attending university will face financial hardship.
Note: We are not referring here to families living below the poverty line. Another significant phenomenon is that in recent years, a large number of laid-off workers in urban areas have...