Recruitment of new students becomes a cash cow
An enrollment problem uncovered by a mobile hard drive
On August 23, the random allocation of the remaining places for the first grade public primary school in Hecheng District, Huaihua City, Hunan Province ended.
The Commission for Discipline Inspection of Hecheng District supervised the whole process to ensure fair and just enrollment.
In Hecheng District, the work of enrolling students from young to primary schools has improved significantly this year. In previous years, the public’s strong "greeting" and "delivery notes" and other illegal arrangements for enrollment have been curbed.
The purification of the atmosphere benefits from the rectification of chaos.
Not long ago, the Hecheng District Commission for Discipline Inspection conducted a thorough investigation of the corruption in the education system, and filed a case for review and investigation.
Among them, Zhang Zhicai, the former party secretary and director of the District Education Bureau, was expelled from the party and public office, and the suspected crime was transferred to the judicial organs for handling in accordance with the law.
The reporter noticed that cases of corruption in enrollment also occurred in other regions.
How can corruption breed corruption in the enrollment process that concerns the interests of the masses?
How does bad ethos invade the education system?
In this regard, the reporter conducted an investigation.
The student list of more than 200 people leads to the corruption case of the district education bureau chief
From September to November 2020, when the Seventh Inspection Team of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee inspected Hecheng District, Huaihua City, the masses reported that some people illegally bought and sold degrees in the urban area, which undermined education equity.
The inspection team kept a close eye on this issue, in-depth understanding and verification, and looking for clues to related issues.
"At that time, in response to the clue that the price of rice oil used to make nutritious lunches purchased by schools in the jurisdiction was significantly higher than the market price, we had retained Liu Maohua, the deputy director of the Sports and Health Care Office of the District Education Bureau, who was in charge of nutritious lunch work, according to his account. Participated in arranging student enrollment in violation of regulations.” The case handler recalled that after receiving clues about the problem handed over by the inspection team, the District Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision made a quick investigation and immediately organized personnel to carry out preliminary verification.
Following the clues provided by Liu Maohua, the task force found a mobile hard drive with a list of more than 200 students that attracted attention.
"Checking the situation of these students shows that although they do not meet the admission requirements, they are attending the relevant school. This is a strong evidence that there is an illegal arrangement for admission." The case handler told reporters.
Following this breakthrough, the task force immediately found that not only Liu Maohua and other ordinary staff members were arranged to enroll these students in violation of the regulations, but also Zhang Zhicai, the party secretary and director of the District Education Bureau at that time.
Subsequently, the District Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision took measures to detain Zhang Zhicai.
The problems of buying and selling degrees and arranging admissions in violation of regulations in Hecheng District were gradually uncovered.
It is reported that due to the shortage of high-quality educational resources in Hecheng District, the degrees of some key schools have become "sweet and pastry" that are scrambling for, and the leading cadres of the Education Bureau and school principals who control the allocation of degree resources have become local "hot" figures.
Some of them use their jobs or positions to facilitate arranging admissions in violation of regulations, greet and find relationships for school-choosing students who enroll in violation of regulations, so as to make personal gains and receive money.
At the same time, there are also related schools that do not follow the policy and stipulate to over-plan and over-enroll students, and privately expand classes, resulting in serious overcrowding and squeezing of educational resources.
Individual party members and cadres used power for personal gains and made profits by arranging students to enroll in violation of regulations
In the past two years, Huaihua City and Hecheng District Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision have received numerous reports on violations of discipline and law by the education system in Hecheng District and Zhang Zhicai.
The Commission for Discipline Inspection of Hecheng District once asked him about relevant issues in a letter, but Zhang Zhicai did not truthfully explain it.
This time the task force conducted a thorough investigation, and Zhang Zhicai could no longer deny before the evidence.
After investigation, Zhang Zhicai ignored the admissions policies and disciplines, "greeting and approving notes," using public educational resources as a bargaining chip for the exchange of benefits.
From 2017 to 2020, he personally arranged more than 200 students to enroll in violation of the regulations, in exchange for other people's food, tobacco and alcohol, and red envelopes.
In August 2020, help a shareholder of a construction engineering company in Huaihua arrange for students who are not registered in Hecheng District, have no housing in Hecheng District, or whose housing is not within the scope of enrollment; in September of the same year, help a legal representative of an advertising media decoration company in Hunan Province arrange Two students enrolled... combing through Zhang Zhicai's violations of discipline and law, we can find that most of the requests he accepts are friends and acquaintances, including company bosses. After the matter is completed, they will send "thank you" in the name of New Year's greetings, festivals, etc.
"As the leader of the District Education Bureau, Zhang Zhicai has a lot of dealings with business owners in school uniform procurement and cafeteria management. After getting acquainted, some bosses will ask for enrollment in violation of regulations." According to the case handler, Zhang Zhicai said Those who ask for such kind of request are not rejected. In his opinion, this is a great opportunity to manage his own social relations.
"Using my degree to get to know the rich and powerful, expand my circle of friends and network, and create favorable conditions for my future promotion and a good life." Zhang Zhicai confessed.
Zhang Zhicai took the lead in violating discipline and law, and the notion that human feelings and interests can be exchanged with public power has gained a market in the local education system.
Individual cadres in the education system also regard the recruitment of new students as a "money cow" and arrange for the admission of money for the degree in violation of regulations by modifying the data in the admissions system.
Liu Maohua, who arranged degrees illegally by others, was for the money, ranging from 10,000 to 15,000 yuan per student. This also attracted some private educational institutions that "allow children to enter public primary schools" to come to trade.
In July 2018, the person in charge of a kindergarten in Huaihua City approached Liu Maohua, hoping that Liu Maohua would help solve the problem of six students in his kindergarten who did not meet the conditions for enrolling in a public elementary school in Hecheng District.
Liu Maohua approached Pan Huayong, deputy chief of the Elementary Education Unit of the District Education Bureau, and took advantage of his position in charge of Hecheng District Compulsory Education Enrollment Management to arrange three of them to attend a public elementary school in Hecheng District.
In addition, Liu Maohua also found Liu and Zhang, the principal of a primary school in Huaihua City at the time, and took advantage of their position in charge of the primary school’s admission management to arrange three other students to attend the primary school.
After the matter was completed, Liu Maohua accepted a benefit fee of 60,000 yuan from the person in charge of the kindergarten.
In July 2019, the person in charge of the kindergarten found Liu Maohua again, hoping that Liu Maohua would help solve the problem of 10 students in his kindergarten who did not meet the conditions for enrolling in a public elementary school in Hecheng District.
Liu Maohua followed suit and arranged these 10 students to study in a public elementary school in Hecheng District.
In September 2019, Liu Maohua accepted a bribe of 120,000 yuan from the head of the kindergarten.
In Liu Maohua's view, since "friends" have found themselves and have the ability to do it themselves, they should also collect some money afterwards.
"Zhang Zhicai took a very bad head, betraying his power in exchange for favors and interests, which not only harmed the fairness and justice of education, but also seriously polluted the political ecology of the education system in Hecheng District. This'people's livelihood project' of education cools the hearts of the masses. "The case handler said.
Violation of enrollment cases presents the characteristics of "pipeline" operation, with multiple personnel and multiple identities involved in the case
“Involving schools and personnel, and participating in multiple identities is one of the characteristics of enrollment corruption cases.” Shen Mingyong, head of the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Group of the Haikou Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection in the Municipal Education Bureau, told reporters that since last year, Haikou City, The district discipline inspection and supervision organs investigated and dealt with a number of cases involving violations of enrollment quotas. Among the persons involved were not only the main leaders and employees of the education department, but also the school principals, deputy principals, teachers, and social "scalpers". The entire operation showed " The "pipeline" operation, each node has a corresponding role to play a role, easy to form a system of corruption cases.
Using favors or interests as a bargaining chip, through the level of breakthroughs in the relationship between relatives, friends, colleagues, education department leaders, etc., directly reach the final link of admissions approval.
A review of the admissions corruption cases reveals that the relationship between the persons involved in the case is complicated, and the relationship between human relations and the interest chain are intertwined.
Some are simply helping because of favor; some are deceived and reduced to a profit-making tool for others; some are greedy for petty gains and charge a "tea fee"; some are purely taking advantage of the opportunity to collect money and earn money.
"Unexpectedly, I have violated the bottom line of disciplinary law because of greed for small favors and small benefits. I deeply regret it." From July 2017 to September 2020, Wu Caisheng, the former fourth-level chief officer of the Zuntan Township Government, Longhua District, Haikou City, accepted the application eight times. Enrollment is requested, including one successful application, and RMB 18,000 in cash will be collected.
In addition, he also has other violations of discipline and law.
In April of this year, Wu Caisheng was punished by staying in the party for two years and removed from his post by government affairs, and was demoted to a first-level clerk.
Different from Wu Caisheng’s greed for money, Sun Xiaozhong, the former vice principal of a primary school in Huai’an, Jiangsu Province, adheres to the idea of “multiple friends and multiple paths, help with things that can help, and think of ways to help with things that can’t be helped”. From family members to classmates to fellow villagers, he helped 18 students from non-diocese districts enroll and received more than 250,000 yuan in gifts.
In response to corruption in the enrollment field, Zhang Yaqun, a professor at the Education Research Institute of Xiamen University, believes that profit-driven is an important reason. Some party members and cadres use their power to profit from enrollment and other aspects, leading to the "alienation" of enrollment power.
Ji Shiyu, the principal of a primary school in Longhu District, Shantou City, "receives gifts and handles affairs", ignoring superior regulations and the actual situation of the class, illegally accepting borrowers and cross-district students, and arranges 13 non-Longhu district-registered school-age children to attend the school and collect parents of students The gift of 19,000 yuan.
"Individual party members and leading cadres have privileged thoughts and require illegal arrangements for admission by writing notes and greetings." Bao Junming, member of the Standing Committee of the Discipline Inspection Commission of Qingjiangpu District, Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province, cited as an example, Chen Chen, the former captain of the third squadron of the Traffic Police Detachment of the Huai'an Public Security Bureau. Xuan, using the influence of his power, introduced 8 people to school in violation of the regulations, and illegally received 163,000 yuan of money and 100,000 Hong Kong dollars.
Over-concentration of power and lack of effective supervision and restriction are also important reasons for corruption in admissions.
In the problem of illegal enrollment in the education system of Hecheng District, Huaihua City, Pan Huayong, who is responsible for the entry of student information, is a "gateway". He alone can turn an unqualified student into a qualified one.
Without effective supervision and restriction, when this threshold is not met, it becomes easy to arrange a degree in violation of the regulations.
Keep a close eye on key links and standardize the operation of enrollment power
Corruption in the enrollment process has seriously damaged the political ecology of the education system and affected the fairness and justice of education.
Discipline inspection and supervision agencies in various regions earnestly perform their supervisory duties, insist on precise implementation of policies, and make simultaneous efforts in compacting main responsibilities and regulating power operation, compressing power rent-seeking space, and eradicating the soil for illegal enrollment.
In reviewing the case of corruption in the education system of Hecheng District, Huaihua City, the fundamental reason is that the leadership of the District Education Bureau has been seriously weakened and the main responsibility of governing the party has been seriously lost.
"As the'top leader,' Zhang Zhicai failed to fulfill the main responsibility. Instead of stopping the unhealthy trends in the education system, he was in the same trend and even took the lead in violating regulations and disciplines," said the investigator.
In response to this prominent problem, the Hecheng District Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision has promoted the suppression of the main responsibilities of the party organization of the District Education Bureau and the implementation of the "one post with two responsibilities".
Improve the disciplinary and work style system, focus on improving the party and government "top leader" supervision system, and actively promote the open government affairs of the education system and the audit of the departure of leading cadres.
Strengthen the clean government evaluation system, combine the evaluation of the responsibility system for the implementation of the party style and clean government construction with the goal management and evaluation of agencies, schools, and cadres, and use the results of the evaluation as an important basis for performance evaluation, rewards and punishments, and selection and appointment of leading cadres.
"Sports examinations, lower score admissions, recruitment index reservations and other links are subject to human interference, discretion and other man-made operation space to a certain extent, which are prone to corruption." Li Lanying analysis.
Keep a close eye on the key links in the admissions process that are vulnerable to human interference and high risk of clean governance, and local discipline inspection and supervision agencies strengthen supervision.
The Disciplinary Inspection and Supervision Team of the Zhongxian County Commission for Discipline Inspection in the County Education Commission put forward optimization and adjustment suggestions for the "county sports teacher invigilation mode" in the sports examination plan of Zhongzhao, and promoted avoiding the risks of black box operation in the link of score recording.
In order to prevent corruption in the enrollment of private schools, the Commission for Discipline Inspection of Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province, the Seventh Discipline Inspection and Supervision Team dispatched by the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection urged the Municipal Education Bureau to improve the enrollment policy. Once the list is confirmed, it will be publicized immediately.
Plugging loopholes in the system and standardizing the operation of enrollment power are the basic projects to prevent illegal enrollment.
Discipline inspection and supervision agencies urge the education department to innovate working mechanisms, improve working procedures, enhance the transparency and standardization of power operation, and continuously reduce the space for power renting and rent-seeking.
The Discipline Inspection and Supervision Team of the Discipline Inspection Commission of Rongcheng City of Shandong Province in the Municipal Education and Sports Bureau urges the Municipal Education and Sports Bureau and all primary and secondary schools to disclose the enrollment plan and admission conditions in a timely manner to create an open and transparent social environment for enrollment.
The discipline inspection and supervision authority of Fenghua District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province urged the education department to explore “enrollment on the cloud”, implement online submission, approval, and inquiries, open and transparent throughout the entire process, and set up a “one-click report” function on the admissions platform, and the problem goes directly to the discipline inspection and supervision authority.
Constructing a high-quality and balanced basic public education service system is a fundamental strategy to curb illegal enrollment.
In recent years, the country has been committed to the reform of the education system, striving to create a fair and just education environment, so that school-age young people receiving compulsory education can stand on the same starting line.
In June 2021, the Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Finance issued the "Opinions on Further Promoting the Improvement of Weak Links in Compulsory Education and Capacity Building", including effective measures to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas and regions, and gradually realize compulsory education resources Equalization, and consolidate the basic balanced results of compulsory education.
The discipline inspection and supervision agency of Xiamen City, Fujian Province urged the education department to formulate special plans, and adopted powerful measures such as guaranteeing the number of jobs, increasing financial support, and selecting excellent teachers to station in education to promote the balanced allocation of educational resources.
Our reporter Lv Jiarong