Zhu Qingshi 72 years old, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences . During his tenure as the president of South China University of Science and Technology, he innovatively launched the school-running model of "first trial, independent enrollment, self-taught degree, and self-distribution of diplomas", becoming a highly-watched figure in China's education reform.
Since the founding of the University of Science and Technology of China, there are two presidents who have served for the longest time, one is Guo Moruo and the other is Zhu Qingshi.
In 1998, Zhu Qingshi was appointed as the president of the University of Science and Technology of China, starting the "second half of the war" in his life. During his ten years as president, Zhu Qingshi withstood the pressure and did not expand his enrollment. He insisted on "original" assessment in college assessments and was called the "most awesome president of a university."
In 2009, he was invited to go south to serve as the "top leader" of the Southern University of Science and Technology, which is regarded as the experimental field for comprehensive reform of higher education, and has become a highly-watched figure in China's education reform. In the eyes of many people, Zhu Qingshi was desperate to jump into the trend of educational reform in exploring the reform of college education. Until now, Zhu Qing's past reform experience still makes Zhu Qing "appear" in other people's words from time to time.
"again" retrograde "heterogeneous molecule"
"second half war" began in 1998.
That year, Zhu Qingshi, who had almost no experience in grassroots administrative work, was promoted to the president of the University of Science and Technology of China and became the "head of the university".
nd year, the university began to expand enrollment.
But Zhu Qingshi went against the trend. Against the background of the expansion of enrollment in colleges and universities, he insisted on "not expanding enrollment, not merging, not enclosing land", and adhered to the idea of "small but fine" running schools, and was called "the president of China's most powerful university."
"It is a good thing that the country has begun to focus on education, but the large-scale expansion of enrollment has begun to change." Zhu Qingshi said, "School education resources are limited. As more students have increased, resources will inevitably be diluted. The result of dilution is that teaching quality will decline."
However, this "single-handed" practice has attracted opposition inside and outside the school. A post "Principal Zhu Qingshi's Strategic Mistake" stated that one of the strategic mistakes Zhu Qingshi made during his first term was to choose strategic contraction in the context of expansion.
Compared with other universities that recruit three to four thousand undergraduate students every year and demolition and construction, the University of Science and Technology of China is relatively static. Until now, it still only recruits 1,860 undergraduate students every year.
"If undergraduates are expanded to three or four thousand every year, the admission score will drop a lot, and the quality of students will not be guaranteed." Zhu Qingshi is confident in his own point of view.
Twenty years have passed, and when talking about his "retrograde", Zhu Qingshi felt a little aggrieved, "I just hold a very simple point of view. I don't know why everyone doesn't admit this."
The first term of the University of Science and Technology of China ended. In 2003, Zhu Qingshi was re-elected as president. "The leaders in charge of education also tolerate me doing this. They think some of the things they are doing are OK," said Zhu Qingshi.
Zhu Qingshi, who was in his second term, created more "headlines". He publicly criticized teaching evaluation and academic fraud... and became an "otheroid" in the higher education community.
"At that time, the school thought that this was too important, and organized teachers to arrange the arrangements and exercises again and again. We would not do this," said Zhu Qingshi.
"I am regarded as an alien and always say something that everyone is not used to listening to. But now, it makes sense." Even in the past many years, Zhu Qingshi still insists on his judgment of that year.
The "second spring" of education reform
In 2008, Zhu Qingshi stepped down as president of the University of Science and Technology of China.
After retirement, Zhu Qingshi developed his own interests and hobbies. He took the appointment letter from a researcher from the Academic Committee of the Ancient Ceramics Research Base of the Palace Museum and lived a life of "a day of leisure and freedom".
Unexpectedly, his name would be closely linked to a new university.
At that time, Shenzhen was preparing for a new type of university. "Building Southern University of Science and Technology" was written into the Shenzhen Municipal Government Work Report, and plans to establish a first-class research university in Asia, referring to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, which has become a world-class university within less than 20 years of its establishment. Select principals worldwide.
Retired Zhu Qingshi once again became the focus of attention because he was on the list of candidates for South University of Science and Technology's presidents.
In his words, he refused the invitation at the beginning, and after he was on the shortlist, he didn't even see the headhunting company.
But soon, he was moved.
" Liu Shenggang Academician called me and said I must go. He said that our generation of university presidents wanted to do educational reform, but his term ended. He found that it was not realized and it was not done." Zhu Qingshi said, "Academician Liu said that Shenzhen has made up his mind this time and has the conditions. If you don't go, you will have to wait for another twenty or thirty years if you miss this opportunity." Academician Chen Guoliang also flew to Beijing to meet Zhu Qing and expressed the same meaning.
"I was moved. If I could really do some educational reform, even if it might not be possible, it would be meaningful to demonstrate to the whole society, especially to the education community, how to do educational reform, it would be meaningful." Zhu Qingshi recalled, "Mature university reform is difficult because it involves the future of current teachers. Therefore, the best reform is to build a new university with new high standards."
Zhu Qingshi had rekindled his unfulfilled ambition to reform education at that time.
After the Spring Festival in 2009, the Minister of the Shenzhen Organization Department and the Director of the President Selection Committee of South China University of Science and Technology made a special trip to Hefei to meet Zhu Qing.
Zhu Qingshi saw the determination of the Shenzhen Municipal Government. In September, he went to Shenzhen to take on the task of "his family members think they are asking for trouble" and returned to the position.
63-year-old Zhu Qingshi's "second spring" of education reform has begun in Shenzhen.
The chapter "fighting alone" at South China University of Science and Technology began with a grand magnificent one. Zhu Qingshi, the highly-watched principal, was shaking the banner of educational reform. A man and a school were written into the summer of 2009.
Some media said, "South China University of Science and Technology is to today's higher education, just like Shenzhen to China's economy back then."
has not been smooth. The enrollment, recruitment and management system, the early "paving" work of South China University of Science and Technology was accompanied by repeated games and controversies.
In early December 2010, South China University of Science and Technology decided to give up waiting after the Ministry of Education’s admission license failed and announced on its official website that it would recruit the first batch of 50 students from the educational reform experimental class nationwide.
The following March 2011, South China University of Science and Technology welcomed the first batch of students. 45 students were willing to be pioneers in educational reform experiments even though they knew they "can't get the diploma of the Ministry of Education."
courage brings attention and pressure.
htmlIn mid-April, the Ministry of Education required 45 students admitted by South China University of Science and Technology to take the national unified college entrance examination. It undoubtedly gave South China University of Technology a blow.6, this group of students did not enter the college entrance examination room.
Immediately afterwards, South China University of Science and Technology encountered a "personnel storm". Earlier, three professors who joined South China University of Science and Technology issued a joint open letter "Reform, Don't Slogans", calling South China University of Science and Technology a "short university." The separation of allies undoubtedly gave Zhu Qingshi and South China University of Science and Technology a heavy blow.
At that time, Zhu Qingshi was in a state of "fighting alone" and needed to complete a breakthrough.
"compromise" became an important lesson that the principal, who was nearly 70 years old at the time, needed to learn again.
"In the Chinese environment, it is impossible to take a tough attitude to run a school in order to be patient, able to negotiate, and have appropriate compromises." Zhu Qingshi told reporters at the Two Sessions in 2012.
In April of that year, the Ministry of Education agreed to establish the Southern University of Science and Technology. At this time, Zhu Qing's term of office had already passed half.
"Why care about 'lonely'"
is like a hero who always has simple beliefs, fighting all the way, going in and out of positions, and finally having a curtain call.
In January 2014, Southern University of Science and Technology held a cadre meeting and decided that Li Ming, former director of Shenzhen Public Security Bureau, would be appointed as the Party Secretary of the South University of Science and Technology, and Zhu Qingshi would no longer serve as the party committee.
9, the term of principal Zhu Qingshi expired.
"When I first arrived at South China University of Science and Technology, public opinion was my peers, so I was not alone." Zhu Qingshi said this about the beginning moment after he stepped down.
5 years later, "being incorporated", "failed to education reform in 5 years", and "a miserable victory"... The South China University of Science and Technology of China was defined in this way, and he himself was also named "tragic hero" and "lone". Zhu Qingshi refused to recognize any of the "tags" of
. "They don't know what I'm sticking to. If you're right, it's not easy to stick to it."
" The South China University of Science and Technology has been widely recognized by society until now, which may have shown that what we insisted on at the beginning makes sense. Why care about the saying of 'lonely'.
The calm "outsider"
After leaving office, Zhu Qing often said, "I'm out." There is less eager slogans and shouts from the past and less sharp criticism. As long as he comes forward to be interviewed, he will always emphasize, "I want to make suggestions for the country in this way."
"I have not gone through the stage of being a cadre, I am a pure scientist. The understanding of education of items is just a simple view, a scientist's view on talent cultivation. "Looking back, Zhu Qingshi, who was thorny all the way, always insisted on his "simple" understanding of education.
Today, Zhu Qingshi lived a quiet study life in an office at the University of Science and Technology of China.
The autonomy of universities in running schools is decentralized, the quality of undergraduate education has been repeatedly emphasized, and the cultivation of major categories is popularized in most universities... The measures that Zhu Qingshi strongly promoted back then are now regarded as the standard of education.
A new round of educational reform has come, but Zhu Qingshi is very calm Jing, no longer evaluate. This year marks the 10th year he has left the position of president of the University of Science and Technology of China and the fourth year he has left South China University of Science and Technology. He often says that he is an "outsider".
The osmanthus of the University of Science and Technology of China has bloomed and is full of blooming. Some people in the school know him, but some people don't know him. This year's 60th anniversary of the University of Science and Technology of China has returned to school, and Zhu Qingshi is often "photo taken" by alumni on campus. In the hearts of many students, he still looks like an old principal.
editor/Reporter from the Beijing News Wang Jun
pictures/Beijing News reporter Wang Jianing
