Plan to rate teachers draws skepticism (0/69)

Teachers in Hunan Province may soon be evaluated based on a variety of skills including how well they manage students, a local newspaper reported Monday.

Hunan Academy of Educational Science (HAES) has triggered intense debate after they proposed new methods to assess primary and high school teachers during a seminar Sunday.

If the plan is approved and put in place after the National Day holiday, as expected, Credit SPMS, the proposed scoring system, would measure skills in six categories including security management, classroom management, and moral behavior, with about 10 sub-categories in each area, according to Changsha Evening News.

"We received a lot of constructive proposals and will revise the plan based on these suggestions," Wu Tianfeng, in charge of the human resources department of HAES, told the Global Times Monday.

Factors such as "terrible physical punishment," "misuse of power," or "overcharging" are some of the categories being proposed to rank teachers.

The overcharging question pertains to extracurricular lessons some teachers routinely offer during their spare time for fees.

Teacher conduct accounts for a fourth of the overall score.

"We offer several templates that schools could use to rate teachers and they will decide which one to choose and who will rate teachers, students or managerial staff," noted Wu.

Teachers had mixed opinions on the Hunan's proposal.

"Stressing the importance of teacher conduct is a good move and trying to measure it is a step towards scientific and standardized management," said Xu Bo, a middle school teacher from Beijing.

Some teachers said they were worried that students may not be very objective.

"Some high school teenagers are rebellious and not that understandable when it comes to strict teachers," said Pan Jun, a primary school teacher from Yueyang, Hunan Province.

Wang Jiyan, a retired teacher from Anhui Province, questioned whether random numbers could be used to evaluate teachers.

Wang felt that teachers might behave "in a noble way" only to win higher scores and wages.