[citation needed] He was transferred to work in the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China in 2002 as its Vice-Minister, rising to the Minister position on March 17, 2003.
[1] During Zhou's time in office, China's education system continued to be plagued by academic dishonesty, corruption, and arbitrary fees, with no discernible signs of improvement.
Zhou was also unpopular due to his introduction of 16 "officially sanctioned" educational Peking Opera works, some of which allegedly included themes similar to those during the Cultural Revolution.
[2] He was instead appointed deputy party secretary at the Chinese Academy of Engineering in Beijing, a "less important but still significant post," according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
[3] Stanley Rosen, director of the East Asian Studies Center at the University of Southern California, commented that Mr. Zhou's new post does not suggest serious punishment, and is "a sign that he's a scapegoat, not that he's corrupt.