Foreign teacher's advice on education

My country Australia has realized the value of work experience. Men can now work even after 65, the retirement age in Australia, mainly because of lack of skilled and experienced people.

A recent report said Japan, too, wishes well-experienced people could remain employed till as long as possible.

Many books, penned by business consultants with years of working experience in China, say the country needs managers with good communications skills and better knowledge of its culture and customs.

China will reportedly need about 75,000 business managers with international experience in the next five years. It has just 5,000 of them now.

Communication skills has become a key word in the world of business and finance, and is a major criterion for English graduates today. Hence, qualified and experienced teachers in certain specialized areas will be needed to help the growth of education in China.

This will be particularly helpful in fulfilling the Chinese government's aim of increasing university enrollments from 13 percent at present to 20 percent by 2010, and 40 percent by 2020.

I know China's neighbor India accounts for a big portion of the world's service industry. It enjoys a major advantage because of its huge English-speaking population, and advanced innovation and excellent management skills.

As an educator with great concern for my Chinese students, I can say China needs qualified and experienced teachers to elevate its students to a level where they can challenge the best in communication skills.

Charles Roetheli,

Shandong University, Weihai

via email

DPRK playing dangerous game

Comment on the article, "US calls on DPRK to release journalists" (China Daily website, June 9)

Most Americans will see the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) sentencing two young woman journalists to 12 years each in a labor camp as the last provocation for the US to take strong action against Kim Jong-il.

US propaganda has always painted Kim as a monster. But whether that is true or not makes no difference.

President Barack Obama will be forced by US public opinion, often based upon disinformation, to act against the DPRK. That's why I think the DPRK is playing a dangerous game.

Jim Doyle

on China Daily website

Flights equipped with more censors

Comment on the article, "15 more bodies found in Air France crash" (China Daily website, June 9)

It is standard practice to have three to five additional sensors to measure the same parameter in critical installations in order to ensure readings from faulty sensors don't cause automatically controlled equipment to malfunction, which in case of planes is air speed.

Under normal situations, all the sensors should be giving the same reading. But if there is a discrepancy, a majority vote is taken assuming the majority of the sensors couldn't possibly be reading wrong data at the same time. In case of planes, wouldn't such a design philosophy ensure safe in flights?

Suggestion

On China Daily website

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China Daily 06/11/2009 page9)