Beijing, March 3 (Zhongxin Net) -- Recently, Southwest University has aroused heated discussions due to the establishment of majors related to civil servants. According to the university, this major is a micro-major of "Public Service Ability and Cultural Literacy of Civil Servants", which is an application-oriented major that teaches the core knowledge required for the open selection of civil servants and public servants in administrative undertakings.
What does this major teach? Will it make the public examination more competitive?
Data map: The picture shows the examination center of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University in the 2 civil service recruitment examination written test of Fujian Province in 25 civil service recruitment examination area, and candidates check the exam information. Photo by Zhang Bin
"Public Service Ability and Cultural Literacy of Civil Servants" micro-major
According to the official website of the School of Nationalities, School of History and Culture of Southwest University, the major integrates the resources of history, ethnology, literature, psychology, sociology, administrative management and other disciplines and majors, and takes the practical needs of contemporary public servants for core literacy such as theoretical knowledge, public service skills, historical and cultural knowledge, international vision, mental health and other core literacy as the direction, and takes the education on the improvement of public service ability and civil servants' cultural literacy as the content.
The major adopts the mode of combining theoretical learning and applied practice, employs teachers with rich public service experience to teach practical work, and systematically cultivates students' core competitiveness in employment and future career decisiveness through courses such as official document writing, official etiquette, administrative ability test and argumentation training.
The enrollment is open to full-time undergraduate students in the sophomore and above grades of Southwest University, and the duration of study is one year.
The course consists of two semesters. In the first semester, the teaching of basic cultural courses will be carried out, including courses such as Introduction to Shen Theory, World Cultural History, Chinese Cultural History, and Introduction to Innovative Philosophy; In the second semester, the teaching of quality development and ability training courses will be carried out, including courses on the basics of administrative ability test, official document writing, norms of official communication and expression (official etiquette), emotional management and mental health maintenance of public officials.
Students who complete 24 credits will complete the micro-major study, and the school will issue a micro-major learning certificate. It is worth noting that this micro-major does not remark information on the China Higher Education Student Information Network (Xuexin.com) and does not confer degrees.
Data map: On January 1, outside the examination center of the No. 8 Middle School in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, a candidate was reviewing with materials. Photo by China News Agency reporter Liu Lixin
What is a microprofessional?
Chinanews.com noted that the micro-majors related to civil servants offered by Southwest University are different from those in the traditional sense. Micro-major refers to a set of core courses refined and opened by colleges and universities around a specific academic field, research direction or core literacy on the basis of college students' learning of the original major.
Compared with the traditional professional division, micro-major courses are mostly composed of 5 to 10 course modules with a total of about 20 credits. Small but precise is a distinctive feature of its curriculum system.
In recent years, many domestic universities have successively opened micro-majors.
In March 2022, Communication University of China released the enrollment information of micro-majors, which is called broadening students' interdisciplinary learning channels, cultivating high-quality compound talents with innovative spirit, and opening 3 micro-majors such as network and intellectual property law, script creation, and innovation and entrepreneurship management.
Shandong University's 2022 "Intelligent Communication" Micro Major Enrollment Brochure mentioned that micro majors rely on the advantages of disciplines, gather high-quality teachers in one university and three places, and implement a small class system and tutor teaching model.
Chinanews.com noted that Southwest University not only launched the micro-major of "Public Service Ability and Cultural Literacy of Civil Servants", but also other micro-professional courses such as governance law micro-major, UAV technology and application, aiming to cultivate complex, applied and innovative comprehensive talents who can deeply integrate the knowledge of this major and other disciplines, and improve students' employment competitiveness.
A first-year student at Southwest University believes that the micro-major offered by the school provides students with a platform for interdisciplinary knowledge learning, and "the learning time of the micro-major is shorter than that of the major and minor, and the learning process is more flexible."
As for the micro-major of "Public Service Ability and Cultural Literacy of Civil Servants", a junior student at Southwest University told Chinanews.com that her classmates around her feel that this major is very new, and she herself is preparing for next year's transfer exam, so she is thinking of applying for this major to study.
"I feel like I'm going to learn a lot. Although this is a micro-specialty, the value it brings may not be small. She said.
Ru Ning, director and professor of the Institute of Higher Education of Nankai University, believes that micro-majors are more systematic than the public elective courses in universities every semester, and are more practical and employment-oriented in cultivating students, and "micro-majors are conducive to enhancing students' employability practice ability."
January 1, Zhengzhou, outside the examination center of Henan Provincial Commercial Secondary Vocational School, candidates review before admission. Photo by China News Agency
Does the opening of this major have any impact on the public examination?
For the micro-majors related to civil servants offered by Southwest University, some netizens wondered, how can colleges and universities open such majors that are mainly based on civil service courses? Does the establishment of this major have an impact on the competition of the public examination?
Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Education Sciences, believes that the establishment of this major is to meet the needs of both schools and students. On the one hand, the school aims to promote the all-round development of students and cultivate compound talents; On the other hand, in recent years, the "public examination fever" of college graduates is one of the trends.
Taking the 2023 national examination as an example, the central organs and their directly subordinate institutions plan to recruit 2023,3 civil servants in 71, an increase of 2022.18% compared with the planned recruitment in 7, and a total of 152.5 million people actually took the exam on the day of the examination, and the ratio of the actual number of people taking the exam to the number of recruitment plans was about 41:1.
In addition, the scale of civil service recruitment in many provinces in 2023 has been expanded, with more than 4,50 people recruited in Guangdong and Hubei, and more than <>% in Gansu, Yunnan, Guangxi and Inner Mongolia.
"The cost of learning is lower than that of off-campus tutoring classes, and there are some advantages for students in this school, and objectively it will guide students to apply for civil servants." At the same time, the program also offers a number of courses that are not related to exam skills, which also helps students broaden their horizons. Chu Zhaohui said.
Ru Ning said that in fact, the courses involved in this major are not unique, but also administrative management, business administration and other majors. "The setting of micro-majors is an innovative attempt by universities to meet the needs of society and the market, in order to help students learn the skills needed for work in school and promote the employment of college graduates." (End)