[Answer] What do you think of USTC’s plan to cancel six undergraduate majors, including English, saying it is due to the “need for disciplinary optimization”?

[Answer] What do you think of USTC’s plan to cancel six undergraduate majors, including English, saying it is due to the “need for disciplinary optimization”?

USTC’s proposed cancellation of six undergraduate majors, including English, has sparked deep reflection on the education system.

In my view, eliminating majors cannot solve the fundamental problems of university education. Education is not merely about imparting knowledge; it should also cultivate students’ ability to think and solve problems. This is one of the core goals of education. However, our education system often places too much emphasis on the transmission of knowledge while neglecting the development of creative thinking and the ability to solve real-world problems. “Education is not the memorization of facts, but the teaching of how to think.” This idea highlights that the key purpose of education is to develop the ability to think, rather than simply to memorize information.

Students need more opportunities to think about problems, raise questions, and investigate them, rather than passively receiving information. This requires a more open and interest-driven approach to education, as well as more opportunities for interaction and hands-on practice. Yet current university education often overlooks this, focusing instead on exam-oriented learning, which does not meet the needs of modern society.

In addition, there is another issue in our education system: too much emphasis on outdated knowledge. Educational content should be relevant to students’ lives and future needs. However, some courses may already be obsolete and no longer suited to the demands of contemporary society. For example, our education system may overemphasize certain outdated disciplines while neglecting more practical skills and knowledge. Understanding economics and finance, for instance, is an essential skill in modern society, yet many students graduate from university without even a basic grasp of these subjects.

Therefore, canceling majors only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. Addressing the problems in university education requires more comprehensive reform, including updated curricula, innovation in teaching methods, and greater attention to students’ real needs. Reform should aim to cultivate graduates with well-rounded qualities and practical skills, rather than graduates buried in outdated systems of knowledge. Education should be a process that inspires students to think and solve problems, not merely a process of transmitting knowledge.