Job Discussion Forums

[Baozi man]

Prior to Tianamen, only a select group of students were admitted to universities in China. They were given scholarships to study. The student protesters at Tianamen were all living off the government. They were really biting the hand that had been feeding them. After Tianamen, the scholarships were withdrawn. Today, few, very few, are given scholarships. Most students pay tuition.

The Chinese governmnt decided that the way to progress in China was more college graduates, consequently, provinces were given quotas to meet. To meet those quotas, universities were constructed, teachers trained and students recruited. The quality of the education was not really an issue. Meeting the quota was the issue.

For example, a few years ago, while studying at a Chinese uni, I became aware that some senior level students actually had no senior year classes. They spent their final year screwing around, in the internet cafe, banging their gf in by the "hour " love hotels, whatever. Since a bachelor's degree required 4 years, even though their studies were completed in three, they had to loaf around the campus their senior year.

For many students, their uni education is positively destructive. They learn nothing of practical value. They do get the idea that, since they attended a uni, they are too "good" to actually work; consequently, a generation of "Those who eat the flesh of the elderly" has arisen. These misfits live with their parents, spend their time in internet cafes, contribute nothing to society. They are essentially a welfare class created by the Chinese social scientists who saw "education" as the key to China's development.

[dean_a_jones]

Certainly there are parallels to the UK, where until the 1990s university was free (and therefore for an elite number of students) and there were a lot of polytechs as alternatives to university. Now schools can charge as much as 9,000GBP a year for school, many former polytechs have successfully gained university status, degrees are devalued and quality has gone down.

You could probably also argue that time spent at university is often a waste for many in the UK, landing them with massive amounts of debt and few practical skills. Many do not spend their free time in study groups or the library, needless to say. Many leave and get jobs they could probably have obtained prior to study, and if not (i.e. the job wants someone with a degree) it functions as a document saying they could concentrate and put in enough work to obtain the piece of paper, rather than an indication of specific skills.

In any country where the middle classes are expanding, elite education (i.e. university) gets opened up to the masses, as it is see as an entitlement and a basic right. That tends to cause all sorts of problems for the schools, parents, students, graduates etc.

[roadwalker]