| Chinese Education | |||||||||||||||||
| by Jared Madsen | |||||||||||||||||
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In the US we tend to have a one-sided view on education. Generally speaking we see education as something personal that benefits us individually. It either trains us for a specific job or allows us to gain knowledge in a subject that interests us. Either way, in the US, education is intended for profiting the single person more so than for the total benefit of society. In China, as I discovered, it is the opposite. Educating an individual is done for the sole purpose of advancing society, not for advancing oneself. Education to the Chinese seems to be less of a personal choice and more of a family decision. The parents have a definite say in their child�s choice of studies and hold influence over their child�s career opportunity. After the parents have "helped" their child to choose a major, the school takes over and picks the classes for the student. This gives the child barely any say in what kind of education they want at the university level. The amount of control used by both parents and government is enough to stifle the natural desire for and curiosity towards education within the child. Whether or not that was the goal of the parents or government is not known, but the goal of Zhejiang University was clear. In the preamble, the first goal listed was something like, every student here is working to benefit Chinese society. The benefits that Chinese society hopes to attain, according to the students in the discussion group, are the improvement of the Chinese standard of living, and making China a stronger influence in the world. Chinese students are expected to follow through with the goals and plans made for them by their family and government. While studying in the university, students are told that the abilities and skills they are learning are all for the advancement of China. The unfortunate truth is a good portion of Chinese students are not able to find jobs that relate to, or make full use of, their skills, especially women. The government promises to find each graduating student a job, but whether these jobs relate specifically to the student�s area of specialization is not clear. The women students we talked with were wary of entering the job force because of the fact employers were still gender biased. Men still hold a slightly higher position in society just because they are male, not always because of better skills or higher intelligence. The entire preparation for entering the job market seems belittled by the lack of suitable jobs and the employers biased attitude. These rather adverse conditions have a way of discouraging the student with the given job opportunities in China. The students then look for other avenues towards success or the chance to showcase skills and abilities. Studying abroad and working for a foreign company are both alternative avenues to the normal Chinese job market. At this time in China it is extremely difficult for students to study abroad. Moreover, working in a foreign company is not as desirable to working at a Chinese company. The latter statement was told to us by the professor sitting in on the discussion group, after I had asked whether working in a foreign company would be desirable. The question was not directed towards him, but when a couple of students expressed desire to possibly work in a foreign company, he jumped in with statistics of how many people were finding Chinese companies to be better and to pay more. Taking into account the aforementioned information of the university�s goals, it could be said he was protecting the interest of Chinese society. The want to achieve success is evident in China�s education system, and especially in the outlined goals of Chinese universities� preambles. The quality of the education may leave something to be desired, as do the opportunities that exist after university education. As China progresses into the 21st century, one can only hope that certain choices, such as the education of oneself, will turn into an individuals' decision instead of a family issue. One can also hope for the individuals attainment of knowledge for the improvement of self as well as for society. | |||||||||||||||||
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