The Ministry of Education has started to draft provisions for Sino-foreign jointly run universities as the country will allow more overseas partners to run higher learning institutions.

The move comes in the wake of China's entry into the World Trade Organization last year.

The ministry declined to give details of the provisions, but said they will be submitted to the State Council, which will issue regulations as soon as possible.

The provisions are based on the ministry's inspections in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Wuhan, Chengdu, Chongqing and Zhengzhou, and surveys of foreign countries through Chinese embassies and consulates.

Although the current number of Sino-foreign joint universities is not available, the Academic Degree Committee under the State Council said the country has 45 cooperative higher learning programs.

These programs are operated by the United States, Australia, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Thailand, Canada and China's Hong Kong.

The 45 programs have played a supplementary role in cultivating experts which are badly needed in economic sectors, according to the committee.

Sino-foreign cooperation on operating higher education, together with such issues as basic education and investment in learning, was highly regarded by members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and deputies of the National People's Congress (NPC) at sessions of NPC and CPPCC last year.

They raised some proposals to propel the development of basic education and Sino-foreign joint schools.

The Ministry of Education considered these proposals on its way to solving the issues.

To lessen the burden of farmers, the ministry and regional educational administrations inspected schools in rural areas of 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, to ensure fair tuition fee collection.

In recent years, some schools in rural areas collected inconsistent fees from students to make profits, putting a heavy burden on their families.

A middle school in Xianyang of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, for example, forced students to buy extra notebooks and reading material. The schoolmaster has been removed from his post for allowing the random fee collection, sources from the ministry said.

The ministry has urged regional governments and educational departments to help improve schools with relatively poor teaching efficiency.

It aims to provide all students with high-quality learning opportunities, and prevent those with better teaching staff from overcharging students in the name of "first-class education."

The ministry will further treasure suggestions on education which may be given at the coming NPC and CPPCC sessions during the next two weeks, said its spokesperson.

(China Daily March 4, 2002)