China explores different ways to train officials
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E-mail Beijing Review, October 16, 2012
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MODERN BASE: The China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong offers training classes on high and new technology, diplomatic etiquette, emergency crisis solutions and communicating with the media. [Photo: Yuan Yuan] |
With previous experience working at the English-language Shanghai Daily, Wang said that he is aware of the needs from both the media and officials. He noted there are problems that can be better solved if both sides properly engage. Wang uses a simulation training method. He turns the class into a live press conference with the officials acting like journalists or a live talk show with the officials answering questions from the host without preparation.
"It works pretty well," said Wang. "Some officials, after returning to their posts, called me and shared their successful experience in communicating with the media."
In Li Min's class, officials morph into students and are divided into small groups to discuss crisis management.
"China has entered an era where emergency incidents stack up. Dealing with emergencies is like solving math problems: No matter how many you've solved, the next one is always new," said Lin, a professor at CELAP. "The ability to manage crisis is a must-learn skill for all officials."
Professor Song Lei joined the CELAP in 2009. "I mainly focus on smart cities. Three years ago, many officials had no idea what a smart city was and didn't think it had anything to do with them," Song said. "But things have changed a lot. They are very willing to learn and are more interested in working on this matter."
As part of the training, Song brought officials to Changzhou in Jiangsu Province, a medium-sized city that has moved forward in setting up a smart city system. "I want to show them that new technology is not as difficult as they thought," said Huang. "On the contrary, it is much easier to be put into reality and it can significantly improve efficiency."
Besides officials from China, some government officials from other countries also attend training at the CELAP.
"We have invited into our classrooms more than 400 political leaders, business executives and academic experts from more than 30 countries, including former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and former World Bank President Robert Zoellick. We have successfully hosted more than 120 training programs for more than 3,000 foreign participants, including those for senior Australian and Russian public servants and chairs of the EU Chamber of Commerce," said Chen at a press conference on September 24.
Tim Fraser, Executive Director of the Department of State Development of Government of Western Australia, attended a four-day training seminar at the CELAP in September with several co-workers. "The training is very useful and helpful to us, as Australia and China face pretty similar problems such as environmental protection and educational equality," Fraser said. "We can learn a lot from China."
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