The revelation that most of the newly-hired teachers at a high school in China hold PhD degrees has triggered a national debate about the intensely competitive job market and the national obsession with higher academic qualifications.
Among the seven candidates for the final round of interviews for the position of biology teacher at the school, four have PhD degrees, said Gou Xiaoxue, a master's degree graduate from Beijing Normal University who was interviewed for the position last month.
"The competition is tough," Gou said. "I heard that for the chemistry teacher position, all the candidates are PhD holders."
The school, whose name was not revealed, hired four people to teach biology, three of whom have PhD degrees, according to Gou.
She added that some former teachers at private tutoring institutions laid off amid the authorities' crackdown on the industry in recent months, which has also increased the number of applicants and competition for teaching roles.
The report soon became a top searched news item on Weibo, with 130 million views. More than 14,000 comments were left on the original story post.
"I don't think the higher academic degree a person has, the better he teaches," one person wrote. "The important thing is whether these candidates are good at teaching students."
"It's hard to believe that they apply for the job because of a love for teaching. I think they are attracted by the salary offered by the school," another user commented.
"It's common for top schools in big cities to require job applicants to have higher degrees. I am in Xian [of Shaanxi province] and public primary schools here only hire graduates with bachelor's degrees or above from prestigious universities," another person said.
