A recent survey, the Dazhong Daily reported, reveals the
problems existing in higher education and university students'
outlook on life.
The social research center of China Youth Daily conducted
a survey on college education recently and the results are
alarming. More than a third (34.7 percent) of the 8,777 students
surveyed regretted their decision to attend university. This result
sends some dangerous signals that should be watched.
Firstly, problems in our higher educations run across the
spectrum, including the setting-up of courses, teaching content and
the examination system. Since these often do not meet or reflect
adequate social needs, most people who regret choosing a college
life believe they have not learned anything useful.
Secondly, due to high unemployment among graduates, many
students view the time and money spent on college as a waste.
Enrolment expansion has pushed forward the popularization of
China's higher education and improved the nation's overall
education level. Reversely, however, this has placed great pressure
on students' employment.
Finally, many college students have high expectations but,
imbued with their self-worth, lack the capacity to realistically
assess their chances of employment. Another survey by China
Youth Daily further proves this. About 51 percent of graduates
who return to work in their home towns do so due to their inability
to find a satisfactory job in big cities and the pressure that
fellow students exert upon to not return home to work. Such
realities obviously go against social needs. It is these
deep-rooted ideological bases that lead to regrets about college
and to an imbalanced employment structure.
The above survey results clearly highlight problems in higher
education, educational management and amongst the students
themselves. All these should be adapted to safeguard the healthy
development of China's higher education.
A necessary explanation is that those who "regret their college
life" do not mean regretting receiving a higher education. These
students understand they would undergo deeper regrets all their
lives if they had not gone to college.
Actions need to be taken to reform both educational structure
and contents, adjust tuition fees and education costs, and help
students build a strong and positive outlook on life and
values.
(China Daily August 21, 2006)