Students have reason to hold their heads high

Jia Shaohua, executive vice-president of the Yiwu Industrial and Commercial College since 1999, is determined to give his students a dream to live by.

As vocational colleges occupy the bottom tier of higher education in China, they usually attract students who do not make it to the higher-level universities or colleges. Many have typically never heard a word of praise right through their elementary and secondary school years, Jia says.

"After years of being marginalized by our grade-driven education system, they have little self-confidence or self-esteem when they enter a vocational college. They have no dreams or direction in life," Jia says.

"Starting and running a business brings back their sense of responsibility, and gives them the chance to explore their potential," he says.

Jia has introduced many measures to support the students, such as offering classes seven days a week, so students can have more flexibility with their class schedule. He also allows online ratings to count toward school credits - one diamond rating on Taobao, for example, translates as two credits.

His proposals met stiff opposition at first, mainly from parents.

"But they are now our strongest supporters," says Jia.

"For the first time in many years, I can straighten my back when I talk about my son," says Yang Chengjie, father of Yang Fanxing.

Fang Xiaoqing, an English teacher who studied in Canada before joining the college four years ago, says she was very skeptical about the school's policy at first. A year later, she began to understand.

She had a student who slept through her classes as he couldn't understand one word of English.

When Fang heard the student was successful on Taobao, she felt relieved.

"It would be better for him to gain some knowledge and experience than sleeping through three years in college," Fang says.

The school's initiative is even more remarkable at a time when millions of Chinese college graduates are unable to find jobs. There will be 6.1 million new graduates this June, even as 1.5 million graduates from last year are yet to find a job, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

In contrast, one fourth of this year's graduates from the Yiwu college will leave as business owners. Some, such as Yang, will even have created jobs for others.

But Yang says he might postpone his graduation to learn more about business management. With their limited knowledge and experience, Yang and his schoolmates know they need to be better prepared for future challenges.

Zhou Zhenhui, a second year student, says he will continue his daily visits to the market, and hope to become an exclusive online agent for as many stall owners as possible.

"I hope that by the time I graduate, I will be able to earn 500,000 yuan, and then I can start a real company."

(China Daily 04/20/2009 page8)