Two police academies, administered by China's Ministry of Public Security, will stop recruiting undergraduate students starting this year, reports Southern Metropolitan News.

Those who want to join the police force should obtain bachelor's degrees from other universities before entering Chinese People's Public Security University or China Criminal Police University, for a two-year professional education.

Chinese People's Public Security University told the newspaper that the reform, decided by the Ministry of Public Security, follows the international practice in developed nations, where police academies are places to provide candidates with expertise training, instead of academic knowledge, and candidates are selected only from people who have already received higher education.

Meanwhile, Chinese People's Public Security University has handed in a 2-way reform scheme for approval from the Ministry of Public Security. One approach is for the university to grant a degree of public security for graduates who have gained a first degree elsewhere upon finishing a two-year professional training.

Another plan is for police universities to recruit "students" from local police teams and give them professional training.

An insider from the Ministry of Public Security says the recruitment of police force candidates from graduates with different majors is believed to be more effective in the fight against increasing crimes that are more complicated and better-concealed with the use of high-tech means.

Though it is confirmed that such a reform will start from these two universities and then be carried out nationwide, the municipalities of Beijing and Shanghai have stopped giving academic lessons in police academies in 2007 and 2003, respectively.

Some netizens think the reform indicates a complete end to the responsibility of Chinese police universities in issuing bachelor's degrees for students who are taught by teachers without work experience in the police force.

On the other hand, the compulsory academic lessons designed for students in police universities are inadequate, which netizens say is the reason for the incompetence shown by police university graduates when they have to compete for jobs with graduates elsewhere.

Statistics show that in recent years less than 30 percent of police university graduates have been employed in local police teams.

?(CRI January 2, 2008)