Wang Yuanyuan

cheekywang@hotmail.com

Xiao Xiaohao, a student from the Management School of Shenzhen University, has become a minor celebrity at the university due to letters he has sent to authorities suggesting reforms.

Xiao sent two letters sharing his opinions on education reform to the university’s “President Box” in October and has gained the attention of officials, professors and students.

In the letters, Xiao gave a detailed breakdown of what he sees as the main problems with modern universities in China. These are bureaucracy, venality, academic corruption, obsession with exam scores, lack of value guidance and cultural education, according to the letters. “These problems are holding back the country’s development in higher education. Shenzhen is the window of the country’s reform and opening up and should pioneer education reform,” he said in the letters.

“In the first letter, I used some aggressive words and I probably just sounded like an angry young man. The second is more measured and turned out to be more influential. I am glad that my letters have generated discussions,” he said.

Xiao spent more than 20 days writing the first two letters when he was a sophomore last year. “Some people said that I did it because I wanted to become famous on the Internet, but I was not. I did not have a particular plan. I just wanted to share my thoughts and contribute to improving our countries’ universities,” he said.

Xiao has always been interested in the university’s education reform and operation system. “I think that what Chinese universities lack is another Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940, a famous Chinese educator),” Xiao said.

Li Qingquan, president of the university, responded to Xiao’s letters. Li said that Xiao had shown great concern for the development of the country’s higher education. “However, higher education reform is a long process and I hope we can work hard for it together,” he said.

Xiao also suggests the university build a platform for students to discuss topics freely.