Society

Universities compete as students sitting gaokao decrease

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-07 06:35

In the run-up to this year's national college entrance exam, or gaokao, which falls on June 7-8, Shanghai-based Fudan University promised to offer 50,000 yuan (more than $7,000) to applicants who come top 5 in their provinces.

Top universities are jostling with each other to lure the nation's best brains as competition between all higher learning institutions has intensified due to a decreasing candidate number.

This year, a total of 9.57 million candidates, mostly high school students, have registered for gaokao, 650,000 less than last year, the second straight year of decrease.

Jiang Gang, vice director of the Department of College Student Affairs of the Education Ministry, said the decline is mainly due to the shrinking number of high school students.

Wang Guangzhou, a research fellow specialized in Demography with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said it runs parallel with China's decreasing birth rate as a result of the one-child policy.

Generally, students taking this year's entrance exam attended primary school 12 years ago. According to education ministry statistics, primary school enrolment has decreased since 1996. In 2008 the enrolment was one third less than the 1995 peak.

"That means the number of college candidates will continue shrinking for the foreseeable future," said Zhao Ming, chief of the admission office of Nanjing University.

Domestic Competition

"Less candidates means increasing competition among colleges in the Chinese mainland," said Zhang Jingxiu, vice president of MyCos, a Beijing-based consulting firm on higher education.

Top universities are attracting students who score high in the exam with handsome financial rewards.

Some second class universities promise the best applicants the choice of whatever majors they like.

While low end universities are likely come off badly in the  competition.

Qian Zhong, vice president of Jinling College, Nanjing University, said newly founded private-run universities and colleges would bear the brunt, because such institutions in China are usually of lower quality.

"Some private schools might be driven out of the game due to too few students," said Qian.

Zhang Jingxiu believes the growing competition will push higher learning institutions to improve teaching and student services.

Overseas Challenge

China's higher learning institutions are also facing growing competition from overseas schools.

Zhang Shuang, an 18-year-old, is going to study in the United States though she has already been admitted into the prestigious Zhejiang University at home.

"I want to study biology, and the discipline is most advanced in the U.S., besides, schools there have adequate funding and excellent laboratories," she said.

She is just one of a growing number of students who opt out of gaokao to go overseas for education.

According to statistics from MyCos, the higher education consulting firm, the number of students going abroad is rising. About 220,000 Chinese students went to study abroad in 2009, up by 50,000 from 2008.

More and more high school students go abroad as more families can afford overseas education, said Zhang Jingxiu.

Vocational Training

Liu Yaxin from a village in Inner Mongolia was trained as a kindergarten teacher at a vocational school. She said, "I used to admire my sister who's in college, but now she admires me because it's easier for me to find a job."

Xu Zhiyong, a professor specialized in education policy with the Beijing Normal University, said it is difficult for college students to find jobs, which might cause some students to enrol in vocational schools.

Ministry of Education statistics show the employment rate for college graduates in 2009 was 74 percent, but Xu said it could be much lower for graduates of certain majors.

Meanwhile, the employment rate of vocational graduates exceeded 95 percent for five consecutive years, according to figures recently released by the Education Ministry.

"Besides the bleak employment picture, salary for college graduates is less than satisfactory. Students from poor families might opt out of senior high school after weighing the cost and return of college education," said Xu.

Gaokao is an academic exam held once every year in China, the only option for high school students to achieve entrance into higher learning institutions.