Education system in China
According to the China Daily, the Chinese government is working hard to help college graduates to find jobs by getting rid of fields of study that do not have good job prospects. Any field that has a less than 60 percent employment rate for two consecutive years will be phased out.
Today China has the highest youth unemployment due to its huge population. According to the ministry of education, in 2011, there were 7 million graduates without jobs. This year, it could add another 6.8 million graduates to the job market. A government officer said: Having many millions of unemployed youth is like sitting in a “powder keg” and it can explode anytime.” According to the minister of education, the plan to eliminate poor study fields is only one of many steps to improve current education system. The minister has ordered education authorities at all levels to take actions which can help students study areas that when graduate, they can find jobs.” The actions include offering tuition-waivers or repayments for loans to graduates who are willing to work in remote areas or the countryside; encouraging small- and medium-sized companies to employ college graduates; and asking universities to employ fresh graduates to take part in research projects.”
The interesting fact is China does not have enough graduates in critical fields like information technology, electronic engineering, or chemical engineering. There are plenty of job openings in these fields but fewer graduates. There are many fields that attract a lot of students but have no job prospect as they are easy to get degrees.
A Beijing university professor explained: “In this age of the internet, a majority of students still do not know about global job market, what is hot and what is not. They follow their friends and study what they like without considering about what is needed to get a job. For example, many study modeling and wish to be a “model super stars”. Many study acting so they can go to Hollywood and make movies. The reality is they all end up in unemployment statistic. Unfortunately, most still live with their parents. They do not have to worry much since they have a place to stay, three meals a day and some money to be spent in movies theaters or video game parlors. Young people today do not read books, they do not read news, they do not follow global trend, they only follow news about movie stars or rock stars. They do not go to university to get educated but only to get degree, many worthless degrees.”
One of the major causes is having too many schools with no strategic direction. There are hundreds of private universities open in China in response to the soaring demand for higher education. The growing private university fills a niche in a market long controlled by public universities. Private schools offer millions of students the education that they may not be able to get since public schools are limited to a few who can pass exams with high scores. With private schools, the ability to pay is the key admission requirement to enter college.
Private university is a new business. It is a very profitable business that has flooded China's cities. They enrolled several million students each year. A government officer said: “Everyone wants to have an education, but the ability of the country is limited. Public universities cannot meet all the need. This is why private universities can emerge.” The number of private universities in China has soared to more than 700, according to a 2010 analysis from the Chinese government. These private universities now enroll about a fifth of Chinese college students. Few are good and could compete with the best public schools in China but many are no different from a “get rich quick” scheme with no intention to provide anything of value. Some have amassed enormous debt from purchasing land and building facilities then have fewer students.
College education in China was stopped during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, but has been built up again. According to government data, in 1990s, fewer than 10 percent of Chinese ages 18 to 22 were enrolled in university. Now the number is about 31 percent, or 34 million students and the number could continue to go up because it is difficult to find job without a college degree. In China, a college degree is crucial for job and upward mobility. Competition is intense for few available positions. In 2004, the government permitted private schools to open to avoid the overflow at public schools. However, by allowing the self-funded and self-governed with no direction, these new “independent schools” are very successful in enrolling students who could not pass strict exams to get to public schools. The result is currently China is experiencing a large amount of college graduates with worthless degrees and without jobs.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
