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Public briefings
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Written by Wang Yuanyuan
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Wednesday, 25 February 2009 18:23 |
The desire to study abroad among Chinese students is booming. Wang Yuanyuan reports from Shenzhen.
U nlike other sectors that have been seriously affected by the financial crisis, studying abroad has boomed in Shenzhen since the economic recession hit this year.
More students are showing intent to study abroad this year than before due to economic reasons, such as the appreciation of the yuan. In addition, studying abroad has become much easier than before because many foreign universities have lowered their entrance requirements, and the visa application process has become much easier, said Zhang Chao, general manager of the Shenzhen branch of the EIC Group.
The financial crisis has also resulted in a significant increase in unemployment and difficulties in finding jobs. Therefore, many parents believe that studying abroad and earning a higher degree will help build their children’s future careers in a competitive world. According to a survey carried out by Shenzhen University recently, 46 percent of Shenzhen high school students hoped to study abroad in the future.
Some 130,000 Chinese students go to study in foreign countries every year, and Shenzhen is one of the cities with the largest number of those students, Zhang said.
Study abroad issues
...education experts say parents should be more cautious in sending their children abroad, particularly those who did not study well in China.... However, problems with studying abroad have gradually appeared during the past few years with the return of these young students. The most serious issue is that some parents have found the investment in tuition wasn’t worth it. Some students have not succeeded academically, perhaps remaining poor in English or failing other classes. Poor performance has sometimes led to depression.
Some students find themselves in awkward situations in the job market after coming back from overseas. “I’m not qualified for high positions, but a low-income clerk position can’t satisfy me,” said a student named Hu Cui, 26.
Hu came back from the United Kingdom last year. During the past year, she worked in two small companies for no more than three months total. She failed many interviews at big companies but did not want to work in small companies for only 3,000 yuan (US$436) per month because she felt the work was a waste of time for someone with a master’s degree in economics from the United Kingdom.
“If I knew it would turn out like this, I’d rather not have gone abroad. I might be more rational in choosing a job if I’d graduated from a domestic college with a bachelor’s degree,” joked Hu.
Education experts say parents should be more cautious in sending their children abroad, particularly those who did not study well in China. Foreign universities, unlike domestic ones, are normally easy to enter but harder to graduate from, Zhang said. In recent years, there have been growing numbers of students who failed in foreign universities and came back home with fake certificates to deceive parents, Zhang said. So parents shouldn’t blindly believe that studying abroad can make up for poor grades at home, Zhang said.
-- article source
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