During my recent tour to Kunming in Yunnan Province, I encountered a young Australian at Liuzhou railway station . I helped him get on board the train with his luggage, and we got to chatting in English. I learned that he was 21 years old, studying Asian literature and history at Sydney University. What surprised me was that, young as he was, he had travelled a lot, not only in China but also in many other parts of Asia, and he seemed to know so much about the Asian culture and history, and was even familiar with ancient and modern Chinese literature and philosophy masters such as Confucius, Lu Xun, Mao Dun and Guo Moruo. He could speak four languages.

 

 

He is a college student, but he did not confine himself to classroom reading only. He said if one really wants to know the society and the world, he or she should go to the grassroots to see, hear and find out about real life. Besides, many students like him in Australia woi-k at part-time jobs after class so as to earn a living and save enough for travelling.

 

 

I am a bit older than he is. Yet I found myself less knowledgeable than he is about many things in the world. Like some of my classmates at college, I often feel conceited for merely being a college student and sometimes I even looked down upon those who failed to enter college. We didn't have to work to earn a living, and took many things for granted.We should not just admire other people's living standard and opportunities. What we should do is to learn their spirit of self-reliance as well as a sense of responsibility for the society they live in.

 

 

Passages

 

 

1.It Is Not Profitable to Study

 

This sounds like alarmist talk, but the whole nation faces the danger of believing that it is not profitable to study. The following figures will serve as evidence：Between 1980 and 1988, more than 4 million primary and middle school students quit school. In 1988 alone, more than 6, 000 college students and 2, 000 post-graduate students left school.

 

 

At the same time, a large number of teachers resigned to find better-paying jobs. In some areas, schools had to close because there were no teachers available. Although the country lacks educated people, more than 5, 000 college graduates were turned down by the work units to which they were assigned last year. A study shows that 35 per cent of the country's population above the age of 15 is illiterate or half-literate. The situation could affect social standards and threaten the survival of the nation.

 

 

An article from the Beijing-based Economics Weekly attributed the dangerous situation in education to insufficient funding. China only allocates 3.7 per cent of its gross national product to education, lower than some 100 other countries of the world. China's per capita spending on education equals one-fourth that of other developing countries.

 

 

Teachers are poorly paid. According to 1988 statistics, teachers generally earn less than factory workers, bank employees and technological personnel. Teachers' housing problems are more serious than those of other employees. Last year, 38 per cent of the teachers at Qinghua University lived in extremely crowded quarters and 4.5 per cent had no apartments, while 600 single teachers lived in rooms shared by three or four.

 

 

The tradition over thousands of years that scholars should not pursue material goals has changed. Manp teachers have quit their school jobs to do business. Others say they hope that their children will not become teachers like them. To make things worse, the limited funds for education have not always been used in the right way. Between 1985 and 1986, government auditing departments discovered that as much as 500 million yuan was spent on official buildings, cars and business activities, while many students attended classes in rundown classrooms or even outdoors.

 

 

2. Education Is about Something More Important

 

 

Yes, but what is education about？ Is it really about facts and figures, learning things by heart-you know, the three “r' s”reading, writing and arithmetic （and that shows somebody can't spell, doesn't it？） No, it gets me really cross.People criticize modern education because some kids don't know their seven times table. Hell, what does that matter in the age of computers and calculators？ No, education is about something much more imgortant. It's about teaching people how to live, how to get on with one another, how to form relationships. It's about understanding things, not just knowing them. O.K. seven sevens are forty-nine. But what does that mean？ It's not just a formula, you know. I want my kids to understand.

 

 

3. People Don't Learn Anything Today I think it's a great shame the way educational standards are declining today. I mean, good heavens, when you think of all the millions of pounds the Government have spent on education-new schools, more teachers, new equipment. And yet still you find people who can't read properly, can't even write their names and don't know what two and two are without a calculator. I think it's downright disgraceful. I remember

 

 

when I was young you went to school to learn. You did as you were told and respected your teachers. Nowadays. Huh, nowadays you get long-haireil kids who aren't interested in anything. No wonder they don't learn anything. A bit of discipline, that's what they need. A bit of discipline.