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Deterioration of the Chinese Education System Is a Danger that Must Be Heeded

August 01, 2004 |   By Li Zhiqing

(Clearwisdom.net) Through a series of on-line news, people may have recently become clearer about the disaster that Jiang Zemin's faction has brought to the nation-wide educational system during the persecution of Falun Gong. It may not be excessive to say that China's educational institutions are marching toward complete deterioration. How to stop this catastrophe has become an issue that is placed before every Chinese person and needs urgent resolution.

Data shows that amidst the persecution of Falun Gong, a large number of teachers and students who persisted in conducting their lives according to "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" have encountered ruthless persecution from their school authorities, from the "610 Office" and the police. They have been expelled from schools, deprived of work, and refused university admissions even though their test scores qualified them. They have been subjected to discrimination, threats, brutal beatings, brainwashing, illegal detention and even being tortured to death.

According to incomplete statistics, at least 70 teaching staff and students in the educational system have died as a result of the persecution. For example, associate professor Zhang Chuansheng from Chengdu University in Sichuan Province was strangled to death by guards at Chengdu City Detention Center. His face was swollen at death and with a greenish, purple and black color. There were many bloodstains on his face and mouth. On his neck there was a deep purple-green mark that was the width of two fingers. The guards lied to his family, saying that he died from a heart attack and threatened that the whole family would be in danger if any one of them dared to tell others the cause of Zhang Chuansheng's death.

Many more Falun Gong practitioners who were teachers or were attending universities, high schools and elementary schools have suffered persecution to different degrees. In Qinghua University, as an example, there were at least 16 Falun Gong practitioners sentenced to prisons; at least 18 practitioners have been sent to forced labor camps. Many students and teaching staff have been forced to suspend their schooling, leave school and stop working. They have been illegally detained and brainwashed. Similar cases have occurred at Beijing University, the University of Science and Technology of China, Fudan University, Nankai University, Jilin University, Chongqing University, Zhejiang University, Wuhan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tianjin University, Dalian University of Technology, and at Henan University and others. Students at many high schools and elementary schools were forced to leave school for practicing Falun Gong.

Apart from this, under direct command of Jiang Zemin's trusted underling Chen Zhili, high schools and elementary schools nationwide have been forced to conduct a campaign to slander Falun Gong. Teachers and students have been forced to view the videos that slander Falun Gong as a part of their brainwashing. Topics that slandered Falun Gong have become mandatory test questions at students' exams to advance to the next higher grade. A "Million People's Signature Campaign" was conducted in schools at different levels. Millions of underage students' minds have been poisoned.

Seeing all this, it's really difficult to describe the sorrow and dread in regards to such deterioration. Schools are places to educate people, and students are a nation's future. A place for learning should be a piece of pure land in this human world, and a beacon of hope that humanity follows to walk toward a beautiful future. It is where the best of a nation's culture and values should be passed down from generation to generation.

"It requires ten years for a tree to grow to maturity, while it takes a hundred years to cultivate a person." Any far-sighted country in the world attaches great importance to education. The quality of education can determine a nation's future. The quality of education is in large part determined by the reward and punishment mechanism for teachers, students and schools. A good educational system will surely strive to have good teachers and reward the best students, while emphasizing morality. A renowned Chinese educator once said, "Teachers first teach people how to be an upright person, while students first learn the way of life." He also said that morality is the root of being an upright person. If the root goes bad, even if you have some knowledge and capability, it will be to no avail. But during Jiang Zemin's persecution, China's educational systems have rapidly marched in the opposite direction.

Those teachers and students who believe in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" and have good moral qualities have been deprived of their rights to teach and learn. What schools encourage are no longer truthfulness and compassion, but lies and hatred. Political persecution has invaded the classrooms, and students' minds have been bombarded with toxins. The majority of students are young people with impressionable minds. Having their minds poisoned by such malicious propaganda will result in huge harm to their individual growth and the country.

At present, there are so many problems in schools across the country. Crises are everywhere, from fraudulent practices in examination rooms to embezzlement of educational funds, from teachers assaulting students to murders on campuses. Aren't these the direct consequences of the persecution of good people and the educational system's moral decay? Isn't this a prelude of an educational system collapsing on itself?

When an educational system goes against "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance," it is on a dangerous path that will end beyond redemption. If we say that an education determines the fate of a nation and humanity, then where will the fate of a nation end up when it goes against "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance?"

Falun Gong originated in China and has been spread to over 60 countries and regions around the world. Falun Gong has been extensively spread on campuses around the world. Only in China is Falun Gong banned, due to Jiang Zemin's personal resentment, fear and lust for power. Isn't this a shame for the Chinese people? The political movements during the Cultural Revolution wreaked havoc on the education of a whole generation. Today, the persecution of Falun Gong will shake our nation's foundation and morality, and the consequences will be even worse. Everyone should work together to stop the persecution of innocent people, particularly the persecution in the educational systems.

History tells us that criminals will eventually be brought to justice for their transgressions. Former Minister of Education and State Councilor Chen Zhili, who has been actively following Jiang Zemin's persecution policy, has committed grave crimes against China and the Chinese people. It is inevitable that she will be brought to justice for her crimes.