Tianjin universities add ideological and political class tutors
The Tianjin Municipal Education Commission has announced that it has introduced “undergraduate ideological and political class tutors” for all students.
The first batch of ideological and political class tutors are eight young lecturers from the School of Marxism of Tianjin University. They are involved in students’ daily ideological and political work across departments. The tutors focus on personal value guidance, class ideological construction and policy education, and support students in finding jobs.
This means that in addition to teaching students academically and caring for their daily life, these head teachers will also serve as the “spiritual mentor” of students, the announcement said. The teachers are expected to answer the confusion and doubts of students’ ideological thoughts.
Cheng Siyu, an ideological tutor working for engineering students, is willing to communicate with students after class. “Doing ideological and political work is a challenge and requires skill,” he was quoted as saying in the official press release. “Engineering students have a broad horizon and are very capable. As long as their ideological education can keep up, they will become very eligible heirs to socialism.”
Ma Ming is an ideological tutor working in School of Chemical Engineering and Technology. His course is widely popular across the school. “He gave me the best answer when something inside me was holding back,” Yang Jing, an undergraduate, was quoted as saying by thepaper.cn.
Some universities in other parts of China have been implementing the “undergraduate ideological and political class tutor” system for several years. In 2013, Dalian University of Technology launched it for the first time. In the academic year of 2014-2015, the first batch of 140 ideological tutors helped with the daily ideological work of college students. The tutors assist the academic advisors in ideological and political guidance, and give support to other daily management issues.