Lost in translation. The Chinese word “Suzhi” (素质）has been translated into “quality” by God knows who. Then the term 素质教育 Suzhi education becomes education for quality, 提高人口素质 becomes improve population quality. 1/n

I never tried to challenge people when they translated it in this way as I thought people probably understand what it means. But I start to see disturbing twist on this these days: people associate quality with the idea of eugenics and Nazi thinking... 2/n

For those who only rely on English to understand Chinese policies, I have to say that the term Suzhi should be translated into cultivation. 素质教育 means education should not just be about exams. Kids should have wider range of knowledge and enjoy life. 3/n

Did a google scholar search and found that this horrible translation of Suzhi into “quality”, Renkou Suzhi into population quality has been adopted by many scholars on China including some Chinese scholars who never questioned the established translation of Chinese terms. 4/n

Call for Chinese teachers and China researchers to correct their usage and interpretation of the word “suzhi”. It is about all rounded cultivation. In education it means reduce exam focus. It has nothing to do with “quality” of people. 5/n @YiranLi17225686 @ChiEdMobilities