South China Morning Post reported (October 20) that as the battle over political ideology intensifies on mainland Chinese campuses where students are being mobilised to monitor and report “radical” political views, in the past three months, several professors and schoolteachers have been sacked or disciplined for “out of line” opinions. Liang Xin, a teacher for more than 10 years at a top secondary school in eastern China, is among those affected. Last year, the popular teacher was demoted to school janitor after one of his own students turned on him. Liang Xin said he knew to steer clear of topics such as the Cultural Revolution, Tiananmen Square and dissident crackdowns, but did not know that even discussing social issues could get him into trouble. Liang Xin said. “My professional career is basically over. No other schools would dare to hire me as this negative record will stay in my files forever.”  Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education, said he was very concerned about seeing more students telling on their teachers. He said “The number of students reporting their teachers has increased recently but official statistics are not available. We have learned in some cases that high school and university students have been asked by relevant [government] departments to report inappropriate classroom comment.” In the latest case, Professor Zhao Siyuan, the Deputy Dean of the Arts School at Communication University of Zhejiang, was given a “severe warning” by the institution’s party committee last week. According to a discipline document posted online, Zhao Siyuan was accused of “using inappropriate terms” while addressing new students. On September 30, Zhao Siyuan spoke about the significance of “critical thinking” and described the current generation of university students as lacking a sceptical and explorative mindset while blindly following textbooks and submitting to power. In a similar case in April at Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture,  the Mathematics teacher, Xu Chuanqing, was penalised after her students used social media to accuse her of comparing them unfavourably to hard-working Japanese students. In June, a teacher at a Beijing secondary school was sacked for discussing the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown after two of his students brought flowers to commemorate those who died there on June 4, 1989. A Guangzhou secondary school sports teacher said “There is a school we knew that hires 120 teachers for its primary and secondary sections but half of them have … different excuses to avoid teaching in classrooms.” A secondary school sports teacher in Guangzhou said his colleagues seldom went beyond the content of textbooks to stay away from “invisible hot buttons”. “It’s very suppressive. Even primary-school teachers are very fearful of being caught these days,” said the teacher, who asked not to be identified.

(Comment: In 2013, universities were ordered to steer clear of seven topics, including universal values, press freedom and civil rights. Strengthened patriotic education was ordered to be embedded into school curriculum and extracurricular activities. Soon after, universities were seen recruiting “student information officers” to “collect information and write weekly reports” about their teachers and fellow classmates. Anything from “abnormal opinions, teaching content, style and classroom attitudes” is on the watch list, according to notices found on university websites. Outspoken educators who have openly criticised Communist authorities or party leaders have been punished or silenced.)