China Youth Daily: China Needs Teaching Materials for Postgraduates

In exploring how to improve postgraduate education in China, an article in The China Youth Daily says the sticking point is that the country lacks standardized, high-quality teaching materials for students at that level.

The article says some universities' education methods and materials don't rise above the undergraduate level. Postgraduates and PhD students often just relearn what they did as an undergrad. The article says this dampens students' motivation.

Lecturers also often design their own lesson plans. Many scholars have called for help, saying with appropriate teaching materials, they could boost the postgraduate's education.

Currently, no standard textbook could be found for a single subject in China. Although scholars say they are easy to write, most aren't interested because they would rather spend their time working on academic papers.

Students' educations in the Chinese system are left to the discretion of the lecturers. Without teaching materials that lay a universal, solid foundation of knowledge, some postgraduates studying abroad have said they must relearn basic theories at their new schools.

The article concluded by saying that more high-quality textbooks available for postgraduates and more leading scholars in the country helping compose them, will improve the quality of education for postgrads.