"Have you ever cleaned a toilet?" If you ask the question to
students in most of China's colleges and universities, the majority
of the answers would be "of cause not." However, the situation is
quite different in Tianjin Science and Technology University, where
many of them would give you a definite answer, "Yes, of course."
Beginning from 1999, freshmen of Tianjin Science and Technology
University have been requested to clean the toilets in teaching
areas as part of their schooling. They have to clean the floor,
wash the toilet bowls, collect toilet paper, wipe the doors and
windows, etc. Every day, they have to finish the job before 7:30
a.m. when the managerial staff would check each toilet and give the
cleaners a mark. At the end of each semester, the students union
would select six classes as the best cleaners according to their
average marks and reward them accordingly. Classes who have failed
to pass the checks would be criticized through the school's
broadcast and blackboard publications. They will be considered as
unqualified for competing for the honor of an advanced class. None
of the students in such a class can be selected as an excellent
student leader or apply for any of the school's scholarships and
awards.
Mr. Tian, the responsible teacher of this program, said the aim of
this decision is to train the young people, most of whom are the
spoiled only child in their families, to be conscientious on social
morality and environmental protection through manual work. The
sanitation managerial person of the university believes that the
general situation of the school's public toilets have improved
remarkably. Bad manners, such as not flushing the bowl after using
or littering toilet paper around, have vanished.
Wei Dapen, president of the Tianjin Science and Technology
University, made the decision to adopt the program in 1999. When
the freshmen of the year heard about it, they groaned loudly. Now
three years have passed and the freshmen of 1999 are now senior
students. When their experience of cleaning toilets was mentioned,
Wang Meng, a senior of Economy Department, said: "I would never
forget the scene when I cleaned a toilet for the first time. The
papers were dropped everywhere and bowels filled with stool. It
felt sick but I insisted in finishing my work. Since then, I always
remember to keep a public toilet clean when I use it."
(China.org.cn by Wu Nanlan, November 9, 2002)