According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in 2012, about one sixth of international students were from China. China has become the world’s biggest exporter of students. China has its own education system, but why are so many local students wanting to study aboard? Some families even spend a huge amount of money, several times their income, to let their children to attend SAT classes and go aboard. There must be some compelling reasons that parents and children prefer to study aboard.
For Better Quality?
There is an increasing rate of parents that think Chinese education is not as good as other countries, such as the US. They try to provide their children with a better educational atmosphere, so many encourage their kids to attend American University entrance exams, called the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT). However, according to a recent Sina News interview with a Chinese mother, she was reported to say:” We don’t know if it is right or wrong, we just feel it’s better to get an education in the USA then in China.” The interview can show one important point that; parents actually do not know whether the education in the US is good for their children or not. They often only follow other people’s advice regarding their education decisions. Parents may often know about the differences between US and Chinese education. But they cannot make their own decisions, and for the majority of the time, they think study aboard is the right choice just because other people say it is right.
This thought is very typical in the Chinese mind, because people often think it is more reliable when the majority says it is correct. In the Chinese mind, it is much safer than taking risks or offering an alternative. Even if the opinions are proved to be wrong, people who follow others will receive less loss than in the case they take risks so this drives Chinese logic.
To avoid a huge competition
The Chinese national college entrance exam is a nightmare which every high school student must face. Not like the SAT, students only have one chance to attend this exam every year. If one student misses the exam this year, he has to wait (actually repeat grade 12) a whole year to take this exam again. This causes a lot of pressure on students and parents because it will influence their future. As one Chinese student puts it about foreign education: “It's much better than in high school, where teachers put too much pressure on us.” The Chinese parents’ view on this issue is largely that, the competition between students is going to be more serious than before. Study aboard becomes an alternative way to let children get an education and this decision seems to place less pressure on children.
But this idea is definitely wrong. Most of the time, students and their parent just receive positive information about study aboard, such as opportunities to obtain foreign employment, less homework or some other attractive details. However, they often ignored some important details. As far as I know, foreign education more focuses on teamwork and creativity. More projects don’t mean students can have more spare time. Inversely, students have to keep their mind on deadlines. In addition, students have to discipline themselves so that they won’t fail their academic work.
What’s wrong with the system?
There are a lot of negative opinions on the Chinese education system and of course there indeed are problems with it. Most of the students will say that the knowledge they learned was useless. We cannot say the knowledge is useless but at least Chinese educators chose a wrong method to teach. For example, US education will encourage students to be more creative and find the interests they interested in. However, Chinese education has a fixed answer and method. It kills the creative thinking in children’s mind. Furthermore, Chinese people care too much about ranking. This will cause the competition between students to be even harder. Thus, there is no chance to let children make mistakes. The Chinese education system is a unique system, which means that it is not generally based on international standards and practices, and therefore not internationally relevant or competitive.
This is one of the fundamental problems. I know it is really hard to change the situation of China and its traditions. Imagine if the Chinese education system changes to the US system, I am sure it will not be very fair to every student. To be honest, I think the recent system is the best option to face today’s situation.
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I'm from Singapore and truly, I see China's education going through the same problems we once had. Back in the 70s, students study by rote and there was only one objective - to pass the final exam and go on to the next level. However, with time, the government realized that they cannot compete internationally with students graduating locally. So, they started sending out students overseas to top universities like Yale and Harvard. Of course these government sponsored students graduated and came back to work for the government itself. Those days, most of us do not have the resources to send our kids overseas. However, there were the minority of rich people who can. Singapore, with its huge Chinese migrants then focused on survival. I've lived through those times and actually, it was more a matter of face. If one neighbor sent their kid overseas, then we should also send ours too. Typical Joneses effect. Then there's the herd instinct as well. I recall the time when Australia became a destination of choice for overseas education and there was a time when every other overseas graduate was from The Royal. Melbourne Institute of. Technology or Sydney Institute of Technology. Such was the demand that the government eventually upgraded (in double quick time) it's own universities. Singapore's universities now rank within the top 20 globally. What I want to emphasize is that China will need to go through the same route like Singapore did. I see history repeating itself here, not just in terms of education but in the social and cultural makeup as well. At the moment, everyone wants to get ahead, at whatever cost. Eventually, there will be an equilibrium and everything settles down as China moves into the ranks of developed nation status. That's where the real problem begins. High unemployment of the educated, salary stagnation, GDP deterioration, high costs of living etc. it's already happening in major cities like Shanghai and Guangzhou. We will not live to see that, at least I won't. But surely, it will come nonetheless.
Jan 12, 2014 22:50 Report Abuse
This is a really interesting topic, many of my friend's kids choose to study abroad than attending local school. the age group are becoming younger and younger , a few years ago, I remember that there were many adults who wanted to go overseas to get their master's or doctor's degrees, in contrast, nowadays, many teenagers choose to get american junior high or senior high school's education. they even don't want to finish their 9 year compulsory education here in China, this phenomena has become surprisingly common .
Jan 02, 2014 01:48 Report Abuse
It's better for them if they don't complete compulsory education in China. They'd just learn to defer to the group and feign dedication to meet parents' and teacher's rigid demands. A person can't get by in life by just copying peers, making people happy and thinking they'll always have an "I didn't know" freebie to cheat the system. Western education teaches kids early on that you need to do things yourself and use your mind to become competent. When I try to safeguard fairness and creativity in the classrooms here, the kids complain that they aren't comfortable being unable to copy and cheat, and teaching assistants override my authority to make everybody happy.
Jan 10, 2014 03:10 Report Abuse
Your last point, about what's wrong with the system, is a short but accurate summary of the problems with the archaic imperial learn-by-rote system, tolerance of copying and cheating, farmers-get-what-they-paid-for 100% graduation guarantee, cruel and oppressive school hours for young learners, bribes & hong bao, and a number of other serious problems with Chinese education that is obvious to outsiders, but Chinese are not willing to consider because of who is saying it (culturally inferior foreigners). But I do have a problem with the way you presented the first point. You wrote it as if to suggest that western education is not better, but it's just the parents' habit of believing rumours and going with the group that is to blame. True, most locals know little about the real problems with Chinese education, but they are not wrong for copying eachother in this particular belief. Chinese education is truly corrupted and broken to an extent that I have adjusted my future plans to ensure that my baby will get a proper education in the West.
Dec 05, 2013 16:08 Report Abuse
I didn't mean foreign education is not better than Chinese one.I want to say that actually a lot of Chinese parents do not know details or other information about western education.What they know and accept is that the US is a developed country;US education system will more "relax";Chinese education is not good.They didn't have their own experience about study abroad and they make up their mind according to other's idea.
Dec 10, 2013 15:17 Report Abuse
chinese education is very intense in the early years. but all this does, is teach kids that life is about making people happy. if they had any intellectual curiosity or creativity, the heavy school schedule beat that out of them. they go to university focused on money, family, and doing what they must to get the needed points (which is very easy once tuition is paid for). when there are no parents or local teachers checking up on them, they will catch up on the childhood they missed out on. the result? CONFORMITY, which makes the country stable and easy to control for the government. but don't expect much social or scientific advancement from people who all think the same petty, shallow things. studying abroad not only enriches a student; it gives them knowledge and reasoning skills that make them a true boon to chinese society. i know how arrogant it sounds, but unfortunately it's true.
Dec 11, 2013 11:47 Report Abuse
I really don't know how to respond to you, you show really deep understanding of Chinese society and particularly its education system.So I'm curios what are your thoughts on the PISA rankings particularly since a lot of foreigners have criticized it for being unrepresentative of China as a whole. Do you think it at least indicates that there is some hope in the Chinese education system (shanghai) global competitiveness? It certainly indicates that to me.
Dec 14, 2013 16:58 Report Abuse
To be honest, this is the first time I've encountered the term PISA. My observations are on the ground in Chinese training schools, so I don't know much about international rankings. After looking it up, there's nothing I can input into the discussion that hasn't already been said. Chinese learn for taking tests, and their test results are likely not representative of a well-rounded, robust intellect. Chinese education is not completely without merit: Some of the dedication and memorization training should be preserved, and in reduced form it might be something western education could learn from. But on the whole, there's a lot more education reform that needs to be implemented in China.
Dec 14, 2013 17:59 Report Abuse
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