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China Expects a Sharp Drop in Number Seeking College Degree
Chinese education officials expect a nationwide drop in the number of students sitting for the college entrance exams this year. From Xinhua:
China expects fewer students to participate in the upcoming three-day annual college entrance exam this year, according to Sunday version of China Daily.
[...]Minister of Education Zhou Ji had predicted that the overall number of applicants would exceed 10 million — last year’s total was 10.5 million — but figures from local governments suggest the number of students taking part may be far fewer, the newspaper said.
[...]“Since the financial crisis last year, the grim employment situation has broken the ‘employment myth’ for those with a college degree. Some students changed their minds about getting a good job through higher education. They simply quit (from taking the exam),” an anonymous recruitment officer with the Beijing Institute of Technology was quoted as saying.
Mark at Mark’s China Blog is unsurprised by this phenomenon, and points out that a similar disenchantment with higher education is underway in the U.S.:
This kind of news isn’t surprising. I hear all the time from young people in Xi’an about graduates from last year’s university class who still can’t find work. There are about to be several more million fresh graduates entering the job market in a few weeks also looking for jobs. Times are looking bleak for educated Chinese young people trying to find work doing what they studied at university.
This phenomenon of people questioning the value of high-level education is not limited to China. America is currently undergoing a similar debate.
An article from last week’s New York Times’ Magazine – “The Case for Working With Your Hands” – does a great job talking about the more academic life young Americans have been molded for and the more labor intensive jobs that they are told to avoid.

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- May 31, 2009 5:02 PM
China Jails Teachers and Parents for Hi-Tech Exam Cheating
China has jailed eight parents and teachers after uncovering elaborate schemes to help students pass the college entrance exams, tests which often determine the socioeconomic fate of young people and their future dependents in China today. From The Guardian:
Eight parents and teachers have been jailed on state secret charges after using hi-tech communication devices to help pupils cheat in college entrance exams, Chinese media reported today.
The conspirators used scanners and wireless earpieces to transmit exam answers, indicating the lengths to which people go to ensure success in the make-or-break “gaokao”, which determines the future of 10 million 18-year-olds each year.
[...]The two-day exams are key to social mobility in China, and determine whether teenagers will enter university and which institution they can attend. Success or failure can shape their lives, and those of their families, who may depend on their future earnings.
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- April 3, 2009 9:53 AM
China’s Wen Reassures Students on Jobs Amid Crisis
Wen Jiabao visited Peking (Beijing) University to reassure students facing employment difficulties. From Reuters, via The Guardian:
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, in a surprise visit to a Beijing university, tried reassuring students they would be able to find jobs amid the current global economic woes, and promised more unspecified steps to help the economy.
Rising unemployment has fed Beijing’s fears of unrest as forecasts for China’s growth next year fall below 8 percent, seen as a minimum needed to create jobs and maintain social stability after years of double-digit expansion.
Students, who lead pro-democracy protests in 1989 which the government brutally put down, are a particular cause for concern.
“Students, please rest at ease, we are putting the problem of graduate employment first,” Wen was quoted as saying on Saturday to students at a Beijing university by the semi-official China News Service. “Your difficulties are my difficulties, and if you are worried then I am more worried than you,” Wen added.
Student anxieties over job prospects is a hot topic on the Internet. The blog chinaSMACK has posts on netizen responses to news of 1,300 graduate students competing to sell pork and 150,000 graduates at a Shenzhen career fair.
chinaSMACK’s summary of a Sina report:
The financial crisis makes it hard to find a job. People used to be shocked if “a good student at Beijing University sold pork.” However, more and more college graduates accept this reality now.
Recently, there was a pork retail chain store in Guangzhou looking to hire 30 employees to sell pork, and the annual salary would be 80,000 to 100,000 RMB. More than 1,300 graduate students showed up to apply. Those graduate students just graduated from different universities including Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen University, and South China University of Technology.
People who were in charge of the hiring said that this year was a good time to hire. 35 graduate students got their jobs as pork sellers.
chinaSMACK on a Netease post on the Shenzhen career fair:
Parked buses fill up a road near the Shenzhen Convention Center. Among them are many buses from other provinces [of China]. According to statistics, of the 150,000 graduates this time, over 70% are from universities outside of Guangdong province. Compared with last year’s job fair, this year’s attendance has reached new heights, but the number of employment positions available is still 20,000. Considering that many enterises are unable to recruit all the recent graduates they originally planned to, there are in reality less than 20,000 employment positions, causing the competition amongst graduate job-seekers to be even more intense.
Students at Shenzhen career fair (chinaSMACK)
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- December 20, 2008 11:32 PM
Lecturer sacked from Beijing University
The Age and the BBC reported on the recent dismissal of journalism professor Jiao Guobiao from Beijing University. In a press release, Reporters Without Borders today condemned the sacking of Jiao Guobiao and called on the government to restore him to his post and stop restricting Internet discussion forums.
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- March 30, 2005 12:22 PM