The Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued a notice recently stating that government officials should not organize cliques after attending training programs and officials should not send their secretaries to accompany them or attend classes in their place.

This notice touches on many real problems related to officials' training programs, demonstrating the central authorities' strong desire to discipline officials and encourage them to appreciate the chance to study, says an article in Nanfang Daily. Excerpts:

Training programs organized by governments or Party schools are important for officials, who are expected to take the opportunity to gain new knowledge. China's rapid economic and social development poses higher demands for government officials in terms of both the professional knowledge and governance skills.

But many government officials, as past experience shows, do not take the training and study seriously, or they regard group training as a chance to get to know each other and form cliques for their future interests and convenience. In this sense, the training and group study, which are at the taxpayers' expense, have lost their relevance.

Such phenomena have existed for a long time. But it is the first time that the central authorities have issued a special notice to deal with the problem. In fact, the notice also tries to eliminate opportunities for corruption as it directly bans cliques and related activities.

To realize the objectives of training or study, it should be offered to the officials on a voluntary basis and there should be a strict evaluation system, such as examinations, to assess its effectiveness.