Officials urged to use new media in their daily work

BEIJING - China's schools for Party officials, once perceived as places for spoon-fed theory and building personal networks, are reinventing their teaching methods.

"In the past, our teaching has been characterized somewhat by spoon-feeding and lecturing," Chen Baosheng, vice-president of the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, told a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday.

"But now, the teaching methods emphasize more collective practices including discussions, scenario simulation and case studies."

Chen said the school and its affiliated institutions will update the contents each semester according to students' specific needs to make the teaching "more targeted, more pragmatic ... and more personal."

Chen also noted that a more open country needs Party officials with global vision.

According to Chen, the Party School's training courses are designed to cover a wide variety of subjects, including international economics, politics and culture.

In recent years, the Party School has become increasingly open to the outside world and has established academic relations with government bodies, research institutes and universities from nearly 30 countries.

More than 500 visitors, including foreign political leaders and famous scholars, came to visit the school last year.

"The visitors' speeches and face-to-face exchanges can play an important role in widening the world vision of CPC officials," Chen said.

The Party School also encourages CPC officials to use new media, such as micro blogs and other forms of social networking in their daily work.

"The Internet can help Party officials to gather public opinions and make better policy decisions," Chen said.

The other priority of the Party School is to deter corruption, according to Chen.

Chen ascribed the corruption of some officials to a "deterioration of belief."

"Our training program focuses on the study of socialism with Chinese characteristics. We aim to strengthen CPC officials' ideals and beliefs," he said.

"We are also trying to warn CPC officials of the danger of corruption by using examples from real cases. This helps to build a strong ideological line of defense against corruption," he said.

Xinhua contributed to this story.

China Daily

(China Daily 06/22/2011 page3)