Imagine every one of China's 2,200 counties with its very own college. The idea may not be as far fetched as it seems. Xin Lijian, President of Xinfu Education Group, a Guangzhou-based private school operator, recently proposed to build local colleges affiliated to county governments, across the country. His vision of having colleges in each county is part of a wider plan to boost the development of the country's higher education sooner, rather than later.

Xin said that prestigious universities have absorbed almost all the talented youth from across the country and in the process swallowed up the bulk of the country's higher education budget. This has left rural areas short of human and financial resources. He believes that there are many ways in which to operate county colleges. One of these would be to have them cooperate with universities in other countries and with prestigious domestic universities setting up branches in the countryside. In this way, said Xin, rural human and financial resources can be better utilized and later become a driving force for local development.

Xin is not happy with the "unreasonable" government restrictions on the size of colleges. In his opinion, if rich regions can establish large universities, relatively poor areas should be allowed to create small colleges. And if the government does not provide financial support for these colleges, it should not interfere in the way they are run, said Xin.

However, Xin's proposal has hit a brick wall. Opponents indicate that the bottleneck in China' current education is the limited financial resources. With the elementary education levels in China's rural areas in bad shape, they say it is clear that this is the area needing urgent government funding. Besides, those who have taken aim at Xin's proposal contend there is more to setting up a college than simply building a campus. Quality teachers and a support system are essential too, they point out, adding that the country's prestigious tertiary institutions, such as Peking University and Tsinghua University, can't be expected to bail out every college in China with personnel, as they have their own priorities.

Obvious solution

Xin Lijian: After three decades of rapid development, China has presented itself as the world's third largest economy. However, China's current education, especially its higher education, can hardly keep pace with its economic growth. The country is 15 years behind moderately developed countries and 30 years behind developed countries in terms of the gross enrollment rate in secondary and higher education.

The total debt of China's colleges and universities has already amounted to 250 billion yuan (about $35 billion) and the geographically unequal distribution of higher education institutions has further deepened the gap between rural and urban areas. In this sense, county colleges are the best choice to boost China's higher education, which can not only cut the cost of running colleges but also serve local needs.

As a matter of fact, even in countries of very developed higher education, such as the United States, to produce the country's top students is a task left to a small number of research-oriented universities. Among the 4,000 U.S. colleges, 1,200 are community colleges, which are operated by a city or region and financed by governments at various levels. Students pay much less than university fees. This is the kind of model that I propose. Here, students in different areas can be provided with different courses, focusing on practical technical and agricultural knowledge.

More importantly, China is financially able to afford the establishment of 2,200 county colleges in the next two decades, each of which needs an estimated input of 100 million yuan ($14 million) on average. According to the State Administration of Taxation, the Central Government's revenue from stamp tax on stock trading alone stood at 200.5 billion yuan ($27.85 billion) in 2007.

Education is an investment that bears fruit. If half of China's middle school graduates can go to college after two decades' expansion of higher education, then China's whole economic growth will be greatly enhanced thanks to the improved labor quality.

In conclusion, from the perspective of development, it's necessary to set up a college in every county, and given the current national economic strength, this objective is realizable.

Yang Fengxia (Chinese Business View): Xin believes that college education is simply a process of preparing students for their future careers. As it is not covered by the nine-year compulsory education, college education should not necessarily be brought under the control of the Central Government. Thus, it would work to let county governments run their county colleges and students going to these colleges can be provided with courses in accordance with the needs and characteristics of local areas and then get employed locally.

If Xin's proposal were fully realized, those county colleges would remarkably enhance China's agricultural productivity, as the country's current management system has separated college education and production. However, what is the use of education if it is not designed to be practical?

Probably, it's because we have overvalued the significance of colleges that its function is misunderstood. Xin's proposal has reminded us of the original and true function and significance of colleges.

A pipedream

Li Qing (Youth Times): As it's not compulsory education, college education should not be operated by the government alone, but this does not mean that there must be county colleges. One thing is