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In January this year, the Central Office and the State Council issued the Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Professional Title System, which continued to promote the reform of the professional title system and proposed that there should be no unified requirements for the professional title foreign language examination, which attracted widespread attention. Professional title evaluation needs to pass the professional title foreign language examination, which has been implemented for many years. Why not make a unified requirement? How is the progress of all localities in canceling this rigid requirement? Does it mean that foreign languages are not important to evaluate professional titles?
It is out of date to optimize the structure and level of the talent team, and "one size fits all"
At the end of last year, Li Hua (a pseudonym), an old teacher in a research institute in Shandong, was finally awarded a senior title.
"Don’t begin to understand" is Li Hua’s evaluation of personal foreign language learning. As a professional backbone of studying the history of China, he has a good knowledge of ancient Chinese characters, but he is not so "smart" in learning English. Every year, he buys the latest reference books, spends a lot of time learning English and even takes part in training. But after more than ten years of examination, I just failed to pass the foreign language title. In July 2016, the Shandong Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security issued a notice, which no longer made uniform and rigid requirements for the foreign language test for professional titles. "This has finally passed!" Li Hua said.
The history of professional titles in foreign languages can be traced back to 1991. The Notice on Strictly Mastering Foreign Language Conditions in the Evaluation and Employment of Professional and Technical Positions issued by the former Ministry of Personnel made it clear that the evaluation and employment of professional and technical positions must strictly master foreign language conditions in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Trial Regulations on Professional and Technical Positions. In 1998, the Notice on the Unified Examination of Foreign Language Grades for Professional and Technical Personnel issued by the former Ministry of Personnel made it clear that professional and technical personnel who hold or promote the corresponding professional and technical titles must obtain a certificate of conformity in the unified examination of foreign languages for corresponding titles, and implement the unified examination of foreign language grades for professional and technical personnel nationwide.
"It should be said that the professional title foreign language examination system played a historical role at that time. The foreign language examination for professional titles has played an important role in promoting Chinese professional and technical personnel to learn advanced international experience, and promoting Chinese talents to strengthen international exchanges. Therefore, we cannot hold a completely negative attitude towards the foreign language of professional titles. " Yu Jiadong, director of the Technical Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said.
However, since the reform and opening up more than 30 years ago, English education in schools has been greatly developed, and the structure of talent teams has been more and more optimized. It is out of date for professional title evaluation to make unified requirements for professional title foreign languages. In the interview, the reporter found that some industries have little to do with foreign languages in actual work, but some staff members have spent a lot of energy learning foreign languages in order to evaluate their professional titles; There are also some professional and technical personnel who have obtained other foreign language level certificates before joining the job, and the foreign language examination for professional titles belongs to repeated identification and waste of resources for them; In addition, some industries need certain professional foreign language ability, and the professional title foreign language examination is only an entry level, which can not meet the professional requirements of these positions.
Zhuan Zhan is engaged in accounting work in a real estate company in Zhengzhou. "Usually, English is used less. Even for H-share listed companies, Hong Kong’s financial statements are bilingual. " In his view, if you want to further integrate with international accounting, the current level of foreign language examination for professional titles is far from enough.
As early as 2007, the former Ministry of Personnel issued the Notice on Improving the Foreign Language Test for Professional Titles. In order to prevent the foreign language test for professional titles from being "one size fits all", it made specific provisions on certain situations in which it was confirmed that the requirements for foreign language scores could be relaxed or the foreign language test for professional titles could not be taken. In November 2015, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the National Health and Family Planning Commission jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Further Reforming and Improving the Evaluation of Professional Titles of Primary Health Professionals", stipulating that foreign language scores of professional titles of primary health professionals can not be used as reporting conditions.
At the same time, many places have already had corresponding practices. For example, the "Measures for the Identification of Senior Professional and Technical Qualifications of Special Talents (Trial)" issued by Chongqing proposes that those who meet the requirements, have genuine talents and outstanding abilities and achievements can be evaluated without being restricted by foreign languages and other conditions; In 2007, according to national requirements, Henan Province exempted 13 categories of people who have proved to have high foreign language ability, worked in grass-roots units or engaged in agriculture, forestry and water for a long time, engaged in clinical Chinese medicine with China characteristics and national traditions, and arranged ancient books, and simplified the examination and approval procedures for exemption.
The abolition of foreign language hard requirements for professional titles has made different progress in various places.
The Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Professional Title System issued in January this year clearly stipulates that if there is no uniform requirement for the professional title foreign language examination and it is really necessary to evaluate foreign languages, the employer or the evaluation institution shall independently determine the evaluation conditions; Professional and technical personnel working in hard and remote areas and at the grassroots level, as well as professional title series and posts with low requirements for foreign language level, are not required to have professional titles in foreign languages.
At present, Guangdong, Shandong, Shaanxi, Guangxi, Anhui, Henan, Shanghai, Fujian, Beijing, Jiangsu, Yunnan and other provinces have made it clear that foreign languages for professional titles are not required uniformly or are not necessary for professional title evaluation.
In July 2016, Shandong Province no longer made uniform and rigid requirements for the foreign language test for professional titles. When applying for intermediate or below titles, there is no requirement for foreign languages. When applying for senior professional titles, there is no uniform requirement for foreign languages; Need to evaluate the level of foreign language, professional title foreign language test and other government organizations or social recognition of various certificates can be used as a basis, the specific requirements are determined by the senior review committee. According to reports, the scores of CET-4 and CET-6 and TOEFL IELTS can prove their foreign language proficiency. In 2016, the number of people who participated in the evaluation of professional title declaration tripled compared with previous years.
According to Zhang Shaohong, director of the Personnel Department of Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, foreign languages are no longer a necessary condition for the evaluation of professional titles in 2016. "This is to loosen the talent." Wang Yiping, a researcher at the Institute of Sociology of Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, said that in the social science field, those who are sent abroad and need to know the latest foreign trends, as a researcher, will definitely take the initiative to learn and master foreign languages, and need not be used as a hard lever to evaluate their professional titles.
In August 2016, the Office of the Leading Group for Professional Title Reform of Henan Province issued the Notice on Adjusting the Foreign Language Policy for Professional and Technical Personnel in our province, stipulating that foreign language for professional titles is no longer a necessary condition for the evaluation of professional and technical positions. According to the characteristics of series, specialty and post, the employer can independently determine whether the foreign language with professional title is a condition for the appointment of professional and technical posts.
The relevant person in charge of the Henan Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security said that the Notice further highlighted the leading role of employers in talent evaluation and talent use, emphasized the talent evaluation orientation of having both ability and political integrity, and paid attention to evaluating talents based on ability, performance and contribution, stripped off the factors that are not closely related to the evaluation of professional titles, and "loosened" professional and technical personnel, so that professional titles returned to the talent evaluation standard recognized by the society in terms of professional and technical level, ability and performance.
"Not only" does not mean "don’t", but also encourages learning foreign languages.
The evaluation of professional titles no longer needs to go through the hard lever of foreign language examination. Does it mean that foreign languages are not important?
"At present, we still have language shortcomings in international communication. The lack of uniform requirements for professional titles in foreign languages does not mean that everyone does not have to learn foreign languages. ‘ Not only ’ Not equal to ‘ Don’t ’ 。” Yu Jiadong said, "At the same time, as China plays an increasingly important role on the world stage, international exchanges are also increasing, whether it is ‘ Belt and Road ’ The implementation of national strategy, the internationalization of talents and the going abroad of China enterprises all require talents’ foreign language level. In addition, the proportion of our employees in international organizations is still relatively low, which also puts forward requirements for learning foreign languages. Therefore, in terms of orientation, we still encourage everyone to study foreign languages hard. "
According to the relevant person in charge of the Professional and Technical Personnel Management Office of Shandong Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, foreign languages are an important tool for professional and technical personnel to learn and master advanced knowledge and technology and carry out academic and technical exchanges with foreign countries. With the rapid development of science and technology, economic globalization and the accelerating pace of China’s opening to the outside world, it is still a long-term task to improve the foreign language level of professional and technical personnel. According to the needs of professional technology, we should actively encourage and guide the vast number of professional and technical personnel to strengthen their study through various ways and means such as self-study, counseling and examination, highlight their advanced nature, practicality and effectiveness, and constantly improve their foreign language level to better meet the needs of scientific, technological, economic and social development.
In addition, in order to further implement the requirements of the National Regulations on Continuing Education for Professional and Technical Personnel and promote the continuous improvement of professional and technical personnel’s ability and quality, Shandong encourages and guides foreign languages with professional titles as one of the contents of continuing education, and professional and technical personnel voluntarily choose to take the examination. Those who pass the examination can be converted into corresponding continuing education hours and registered with continuing education certificates.
Our reporter Zhao Bing Pan Junqiang Ma Yuefeng