Post 17 What constitutes a good university education?
On 19 August 2009, Sun Yat-Sen University (Zhong Shan Da Xue) in Guangzhou made an announcement which would be of great interest to many people in general and educationists in particular. Being one of the major universities in China, the bold step taken by the university, after studying the running of Liberal Arts Colleges overseas, is well worth our discoursing.
The university would select 30 new students from the more than 8000 new intakes to go through a four-year elite education not associating with any faculty in the university. They will study Ancient Chinese Language, Ancient Greek Language, Latin, English Language, Chinese Civilisation, and Western Civilisation. The cream of the creams will be awarded a professional degree in Liberal Arts. Outstanding graduates will also go straight for their Master degree class. The new students are to study together and stay in the same hostel.
The main aim of this innovative initiative is to nurture future talents who will have the ability to do further research in the fields of liberal arts and social sciences. They are to “read more, think more, sacrifice more, and to shoulder more responsibilities in future. The College of Liberal Arts in the university holds in esteem not wealth but wisdom and self cultivation. They are not to be models of billionaires but that of great thinkers and great scholars.”
There are as many people who support the move of the university as there are who oppose it.
What say you?
27 October 2009
Knowledge is power!
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