Second Lu Xun Literature Prize Winning Works Series - Report Literature

Author: None
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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 can be compared 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 Whispers from the West, Li Mingsheng's China's 863 Program, and Yang Ligang's A Life on the Brink.
Excerpt: The long-term stagnation of family education funding at 12% can only maintain the "personnel costs" of educational institutions, while all other endeavors are limited to the phrase "a clever woman cannot cook without rice." The education sector had previously explored and implemented systems such as commissioned training, (commissioned training), and self-funded education in the 1980s and early 1990s to alleviate the shortage of education funding. The results were either the issue of "scoring money to make up for the lack of scores" or some universities refusing to adopt such systems as "commissioned students" due to their commitment to teaching quality, compounded by the many problems arising from the allocation of commissioned students. In 1994, after extensive investigation and deliberation, the state decided to transition from pilot programs to implementing a tuition-based education system for all universities. Why? It is clear: the country cannot 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 costs annually, a single student averages 10,000 yuan per year, and 500 million students represent 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 country are growing at a rate of 30% annually, reaching a total of 500 billion yuan by the end of 1997! While personal finances continue to expand, yet no one is willing to spend a penny for their children's higher education—such a nation has virtually 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 for the tutor if the student's annual grades ranked in the top 5 of the class, and 8,000 yuan for the top 10. Upon entering university, an additional one-time reward of 150,000 yuan would be given. The tutor's regular compensation included free meals and accommodation, with a well-equipped bedroom featuring air conditioning, a computer, and a television, and a monthly salary of over 1,200 yuan. It is almost a common social phenomenon to spend heavily on private tutors or elite middle schools for children's higher education. Just look at the intense competition in the "middle school entrance exam" and the sacrifices parents make to secure top schools for their children—how many can claim they are not doing it for their children's university education? Since middle school fees are often affordable or fully bearable for thousands or tens of thousands of yuan, why should university fees be any different? Driven by the overall situation and the realities of the nation, the government and education sector ultimately made the major decision that future higher education would require tuition payments. This was a shock to the Chinese people. In fact, it had come too late. Its necessity stemmed from urgency, and its delay to this day was also born of necessity—the country still has hundreds of millions of families living in low-income, economically unsustainable conditions. As a result, the state continues to cover about 80% of each student's total education costs.
The People's Republic prioritizes the people. The state also considers the special circumstances of professional colleges in certain industries, stipulating that students in agricultural, normal, geological, petroleum, sports, navigation, and ethnic studies programs who receive national professional scholarships are exempt from tuition fees. According to assessments by the education sector and relevant social research institutions, after tuition fees are implemented, the annual expenses for each university student range from 6,000 to 10,000 yuan, a figure that most families can afford. The education sector believes that, according to market economy theory, the returns a university graduate will receive over their lifetime will be substantial, making the 20,000-30,000 yuan spent 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 ( -), 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 more than 60% of university students come from rural and remote areas. Similarly, data indicates that the average annual income per capita in rural areas is around 1,200 yuan. These two data points highlight a critical issue: in rural areas, if a family has a university student, their entire annual income is essentially dedicated to that student. If this assumption holds, then at least half of all rural students attending university will face financial hardship.
Note: Here, we are not referring to families living below the poverty line. Another significant phenomenon that cannot be ignored is the large number of laid-off workers in urban areas in recent years...