Abolishing Jointly Sponsored Students, as of 2014-04-18

konjaku: continuing the topic of jointly sponsored students and priority schools. The jointly sponsored mechanism is to be abolished, as of 2014-04-18.

Beijing: the transition from pre-school to elementary, from elementary to middle school, announces a new policy –they will abolish jointly sponsored students, put a stop to memo students

http://learning.sohu.com/20140418/n398468850.shtml

The Beijing Education Commission spokesperson Li Yi at news conference on 04-18 announced that Beijing would begin the process of abolishing jointly sponsored students. The unrestrained growth over the last few decades of jointly sponsored students has aroused intense public attention. Are there secrets to “jointly sponsored students” that people do not know? Who exactly are those who receive the fare of this sumptuous “floating banquet?” Please read on…

Spokesperson Li Yi said that recently there have been postings on the net claiming that people are offering for sale spots on school admittance lists. He said the Education Commission is investigating the sources of these stories, including complaints that people have phoned in to their hotline. He asks that parents not listen to and believe rumors, and be fooled by false information.

Li Yi said the Education Commission has set up a new school admissions system, that registers all eligible students and collects information on them. Every step is subject to inspection and control, and if there were any mistakes or abnormalities they would be discovered in a timely fashion. It is not possible that persons could sell admission vacancies. Nor does the system allow persons to register in more than one zone –they can only register one time, at the place they actually live. The Commission will announce all the details of the registration system in the near future.

Li Yi announced that Beijing would begin the process of abolishing jointly sponsored students, therefore it will be impossible for a school to admit a student outside of the quota.

What is a jointly sponsored student?
The departments of the central ministries and commissions, and large scale state enterprises make sponsoring arrangements (‘jointly sponsor’ connections) with prestigious schools. The prestigious schools supply a quota of openings for students, and the sponsoring institutions exchange these for various types of benefits. Generally speaking, the schools that participate in these arrangements are Beijing’s top elementary and middle schools. For instance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs began a relationship with the Beijing #2 Middle School in 1997. This is a demonstration [priority]school, the best middle school in Dongcheng. On the third month of this year, British soccer superstar David Beckham visited this school. In 2007, the (then) Foreign Affairs Minister Li Zhaoxing hosted a “Joint Sponsor Cup” ping pong match between the Ministry and the school, “thanking the #2 Middle School for its many years of settling the matter of school admissions for the children of Foreign Ministry staff.”

#2 Middle School gate

#2 Middle School campus

Beckham at #2 Middle School

According to data from the #2 Middle School, in the ten years up to 2007, graduates who were children of foreign ministry staff numbered over 1000. During these same years the material and financial resources of the Foreign Ministry have given the school a lot of support to enhance their programs.

The Foreign Ministry also has ties to another prestigious school, the Shijia Lane Elementary School. This school is widely recognized as a prestigious school with many sponsorship ties. Besides the Foreign Ministry, there is Central Petroleum, Central Petrochemicals, the Foreign Services Investment Company (FESCO), and many others.

Sponsorships are not limited to central government agencies and state monopoly companies. As specialists have said, it is very difficult to get a clear understanding of the total picture. Although the emphasis is on the larger state agencies, there are many others. For instance, an insider has revealed that sponsors of #4 Middle School are Beijing University Hospital, and the General Staff Headquarters. Experimental #2 Elementary School has Xinhua News Agency and China Bank as sponsors, Huangchenggen Elementary School has Beijing University Hospital, and the People’s Liberation Army Publishing House.

konjaku: Li Zhaoxing was Foreign Minister from 2003 to 2007. Before that, he was Ambassador to the United States, from 1998  to 2003.