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MEMBERS attending the Fourth Session of the Ninth Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPPCC urged the government to calculate the operating costs of colleges, hold hearings on school fees and establish a transparent college fee system.

A proposal by the members of the Guangdong Committee of China Democratic National Construction Association said the school fees, which had increased 25 times in the past 10 years, had become a heavy burden for families, especially those in rural areas.

A survey by the South China Normal University indicates only 7.5 percent of respondents accept annual school fees being higher than 5,000 yuan and 71.6% Guangzhou residents think college fees are far too higher.

China started charging college fees in 1989 at around 200 yuan (US$25) for each term. Now fees are between 5,000 and 10,000 yuan each term.

The members said a transparent fee system should be established and over-staffed university departments should be streamlined to save administrative costs.

In some Guangdong colleges, the ratio of administrative staff to teachers exceeded 50 percent.

Hu Jun, president of Jinan University, said the proposal was good and a clear accounting was needed for schools, parents and students. A student of Guangzhou University of Technology said he had to pay around 8,000 yuan in school fees every year, excluding fees for textbooks, boarding and accommodation.

Editor: Yan