Discriminatory legislation against those with only basic education is a backwards step, says a signed article in Dahe Daily. An excerpt follows:

On Tuesday, a draft ordinance on road transportation management in Chongqing was submitted to the municipal people's congress for approval.

Stipulated in the legal document was an article that taxi drivers must have received at the minimum junior middle school education, otherwise they would be fired.

Local decision-makers owe to the public an explanation: Why does it plan to lay off lower-educated taxi drivers? Is their driving skill not the most important thing?

This sort of thinking is illogical. It is known that driving is not a sophisticated technique. And those with a high degree of education are certainly no more skilled than those with a basic education.

It would be no surprise if such a stipulation was drafted by a corporation. In today's society it has become very common for employers to excessively value academic backgrounds.

However, Chongqing Municipality's regulation is confusing. The setting of a biased threshold against lower-educated taxi drivers in the form of legislation is not in accordance with a civilized legal system.

There are explicit stipulations in the country's Constitution and Law of Labour that citizens are entitled to equal employment rights.

Therefore, on what legal grounds does Chongqing base its prejudiced stipulation?

It is estimated that there is still a large army of residents with only basic education in the country, people who want a stable job to support themselves and family members.

Those with lower education have less chance of development than those with higher educations. Chongqing's bias is almost the same as depriving lower-educated residents of a means of making a living.

This obviously goes against the country's advance towards a harmonious society.

(China Daily March 31, 2006)