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| Andy Warhol Mao 1972 synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on linen, 82 x 64 inches Courtesy The Stephanie and Peter Brant Foundation, Greenwich, CT © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts |
...In 1992 university education was free. If you passed the entrance exam then tuition and residence were free. Campus food was subsidised. Upon graduation each student was assigned a job usually in the province they had come from. Party control was absolute. Rapidly from 1993/4 this changed.
Accommodation fees were introduced, students were told to find a job themselves, tuition costs were introduced, low at first but increasing quickly. Universities were freed to make money and could no longer rely on government money. Teachers were encouraged to develop courses that students would elect to take. The more students in a class the more money the teacher and the university earned. Quality is not necessarily the main criterion for these courses and examinations frequently lack rigour. From a student's perspective, more courses look good on the CV.
Students are encouraged to take a second major beginning in their second year. The ones that are chosen most are those that have a definite utilitarian objective: finance, international trade, economics, business management, law - especially corporate law. Students now face two challenges that were completely unknown when I first arrived in China: financing their studies and finding a job.
For the growing affluent middle class the fees and living costs are not a problem but what about those from the countryside? They can borrow the funds they need from commercial banks at government-supported low interest rates. As well as this many students take on part-time jobs. Some students from poor families owe enormous moral and financial debts to their family. In some cases the student was chosen by the family to be the bright one who would go onto university.
Siblings have sacrificed their own secondary and college education to help earn the money. Those debts will not be paid off in a few years after graduation as can a bank loan. It is very noticeable that students from such backgrounds are the most dedicated to their studies. They know they have to be successful. In fairness the communist party leaders within universities do what they can to award small scholarships and help such students find a job.
However, I fear that further problems will become apparent in the near future. China is producing more graduates than it can employ. Two or three years ago postgraduate courses mushroomed as increasing numbers of students took the decision that an MA would be more likely to secure them a good job than a BA. Next summer will be the first when a massive number of post-graduate students come to the job market. Will their dreams of a good job be realised or will there be many over-qualified and frustrated young people? What will the effect of so many graduates be on the chances for graduates? There is a further complication. The poorer students are not usually among those pursuing higher degrees because they are unwilling to take on more debts. How will they fare in the search for employment? I do not know the answers to these problems.
How are these concerns about their futures affecting students? My experience is that it is encouraging them to think more selfishly. I used to hear students talking about 'serving the people' a phrase that is now, like the Little Red Book consigned to history. I feel great sympathy for these youngsters. It is clear from their conversations with me that they are desperately searching for advice and guidance. But they are on their own. Neither their parents nor their teachers have faced these problems and the dilemmas that are part of moving from sheltered academia to the hard world of employment. Their seniors did what they were told. There is no accumulated wisdom. They are treading paths that their families know nothing about. Communication without shared experiences is very difficult and that is the position that university students are finding themselves in today.
The university leaders used to be concerned with producing the educated young people for society. Now they are largely concerned about protecting their own positions. They need to encourage students to come to their university because they bring with them funds. They spend the money on grandiose new and unnecessarily large campuses because 'big is beautiful and wonderful'. They have followed central government policies to merge smaller (more manageable) universities into ever- larger unmanageable ones.
They have built out of town campuses, which are disliked by students and teachers, but admired by those who only visit occasionally in the official car. They listen to and respond to the demands of students. They give the impression they are afraid that if they do not they will fail to attract new ones. In contrast they can ignore the needs of teachers especially the younger ones, because with so many graduates and post graduates there will be no shortage of people to fill the places of teachers who rock the boat. It is tragic that good young teachers are feeling frustrated and see no future. But that is another story.
Today's students are growing into adulthood within a very different situation to those I taught a dozen years ago. It is not a comfortable time for many of them.
Patrick Wood looks at Chinese education system and its effect on students. The article first appeared in China Eye magazine 2005.
The author has been teaching in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province since 2000. He first taught at Sichuan University but this summer he moved to the South West University for Chinese National Minorities. He had previously taught in China during 1992-94. Patrick had the pleasure of meeting SACU members Derek Bryan and Hong Ying in Chengdu during one of their periodic visits to China and he joined SACU on a return visit to the UK in 1994.
http://www.sacu.org/students.html
