Is China’s Education System Driving Away Top Students? Sharp Increase in Chinese Students Abroad:Part 1

Is China’s Education System Driving Away Top Students? Sharp Increase in Chinese Students Abroad:Part 1
Sep 23, 2014 By eChinacities.com

Editor’s Note: This article, translated from ifeng.com explores the reasons behind the recent increase in students choosing to study abroad for high school and undergraduate, and questions whether the current rote learning, exam focussed education system is now driving away the country’s top students.

In September 2014 Chen Xiaotian frequently saw updates on WeChat from his former junior high school classmates complaining and joking about their compulsory military training course. In response, he uploaded a photo of himself playing tennis and captioned it: “Hey! It may be a little colder in Cambridge, but you can’t just stay in when there are such blue skies.” The picture and commentary attracted much attention from his counterparts back in China.

studying abroad
Photo: Baidu

No military training, no early mornings. Chen Xiaotian was enjoying his life in Cambridge in the UK countryside attending a private high school. The school was traditional, but at the same time encouraged fun. It was also extremely pricey. The annual bill for tuition and living expenses came in at nearly 400,000 RMB.

Chen, originally from Nanjing, is just one of many Chinese young students who study abroad. Various data shows that a very large numbers of millennials have taken the leap to study abroad in the last two years, and these numbers are on the rise. In August 2014, the Associated Press reported that the Chinese students studying abroad in the United States now outnumber South Korean students. In 2013, a total of 31,889 Chinese students came to the United States on F1 high school student visas. This number is almost fifty times more than the number of Chinese high school students with this visa eight years ago. In two years alone, the number has increased five-fold. 

Other than the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand have also become popular destinations for Chinese students. The Wall Street Journal recently published an article that stated that in the past five years, the number of international high school students in Toronto, Canada has increased by 40 percent. Three quarters of these incoming students are from China.

The parents of these children are no longer just government officials, the wealthy and the intellectual elite. More and more, ordinary workers are sending their kids abroad to school. Will China’s next educated generation mainly be from an entirely different system?

Table Showing Top Ten Study Abroad Destinations 2007-14

 

Destination

Percentage of Students

1

United States

28.44

2

Australia

23.94

3

Canada

19.58

4

Britain

9.74

5

Other European Countries 

8.35

6

Singapore

3.66

7

France

3.23

8

New Zealand

2.67

9

Germany

2.5

10

Holland

1.4

 

The “Good Student,” Who Left

If he had not left for school in England, Chen Xiaotian would have attended a very famous high school in Nanjing. His parent’s friends were shocked at their decision to send their son abroad. At 15 years old, he already had many advantages and opportunities within the Chinese educational system. He had attended the best junior high school in Nanjing and had already done a study tour in England.

A Southern Weekend reporter found that young students who leave China to study abroad are no longer just the ones who cannot cut it within the Chinese system. Previously, many who studied abroad had had poor grades in China or had failed in the system. However, now, honors students such as Chen are taking the leap as well. Song Yuchen attends a private high school in California and was previously ranked second in her Shanghai, Pudong area junior high school. Out of the 45 students in her class, half of them choose to attend high school abroad.

Now, students need both high grades and economic power in order to study abroad at a young age. There are generally very few scholarships available for international students at private high schools. The tuition at these schools combined with room and board is generally around 50,000 US dollars a year. Senior project manager in charge of the United States at New Oriental, Wang Mengyan, calculated four years of high school in the United States costs at least 1.2 million RMB. If this is coupled with undergraduate in the United States then parents must, at the very least, invest 1.5 to 2 million RMB.

Chinese high school students studying abroad come from diverse economic backgrounds. Song Yuchen’s father is the head of a large investment firm, so money is not a concern. Chen Xiaotian’s parents are intellectuals who together make just over a 10,000 RMB a month. His parents must bite the bullet financially and empty their savings for the sake of their son.

However, as for wanting a better education, there are issues that money alone cannot solve. Many high schools are extremely difficult, with exams even harder than those at Harvard. Chinese high school students often struggle in the new and fiercely competitive system. Wang Mengyan said that the top 20 or 30 boarding schools from the United States only enroll about six Chinese students per grade every year. Altogether, only about a hundred Chinese students attend these top schools. The competition for these spots is brutal: there are about 10,000 applicants every year.

On the other hand, many foreign high schools have begun to compete with each other for outstanding Chinese students. Traditionally, public schools are not allowed to recruit international students, but this is now changing. Several lawmakers have submitted bills to alter relevant laws to allow public schools accept international students. One of the sponsors of the bill, New York Congressman Bill Owens said that it would, “help improve the atmosphere of our public schools.”

Changing the System and Status Quo

Chinese students are attracted to American high schools because attending a high school in the States makes it easier to be accepted at an American university. A few decades ago, competition for spots at American universities intensified greatly. Now, the main reason that Chinese students apply to high schools in the United States is the hope of acceptance to a prestigious university.

There are other reasons for wishing to attend school in America, however; Chen Dong says that he does not want his son to become just another drop in the river in an exam-oriented system. At Chen Dong’s middle school, students must take a nap at noon, but he did not sleep and read books instead. The teachers saw this and make him stand at attention, said he caused problems in class and that he must be disciplined.

“Strictness is fine, but it should not be blind,” said Chen Dong. “No matter what comes out of it, students should study everything they want, or else it is a waste of one’s life, is it not?” Chen Dong was desperate to change his son’s educational experience.

Through Wang Mengyan’s experience with high school parents, he found that they had similar reasons for wanting their children to study abroad. These reasons included the lack of creatively in Chinese high schools and overemphasis on repetitive training.

There are other reasons besides a frustration with the Chinese exam system. Many parents do not want their children to lead a trivial life. Wang Xia’s daughter Wang Sihan is a sophomore in high school in New Zealand. Before leaving China to study abroad, she attended a well-known school in Beijing’s Haidian district. Her mother works as an executive in a state-owned enterprise. Her days are not difficult and she felt like her whole life was planned out for her. If her daughter was still at home, she could already see her future as well: admission into a top high school, admission into a top university, marriage, Wang Xia and her partner raising her child…

Wang Xia said she did not want her daughter to lead a typical life like she had.

Song Yuchen had originally never planned to go abroad for high school. She had been first or second in her exams in her third year in middle school and had a clear path to admission at a prestigious high school in Shanghai. However, at the last moment, she was rejected by the school. A teacher from the high school explained to her that it was basically she had no grade for physical education as she had had surgery two days earlier. However, when her father inquired about the real reason she had been rejected, he found it was perhaps because he had not gone to see (i.e. bribed) the head teacher at the high school.

Although Song Yuchen’s father Song Bin had a net worth of billions of RMB, he did want to be a part of any shady backdoor deals. He told his daughter that if she had the test scores to be admitted into the school in Shanghai, she could attend school in America. If her tests results to go to school in America were not good, she already had the results to apply other Chinese high schools.  

Song Bin always thought that they had been trapped by the system, but slowly realized that they could get around it. However, they could not escape from life in China itself. “Smog, melamine, the environment created by public security. Adults can barely tolerate it, how can children stand it?” Song Bin had once thought of immigration himself but it would mean giving up his domestic business and his friends. If it was not right for him, he could at least send his children abroad early.

Source: ifeng.com

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Keywords: More Chinese students Chinese Students Studying Abroad

10 Comments

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bill8899

This has been happening for years.

Sep 28, 2014 07:09 Report Abuse

syoung108

As had been said over and over, China needs a major revamping of its education system, from the top to the bottom. Forcing students to do mountains of homework with no real result just makes bored, listless individuals with no hope. It's quite clear why parents ship their kids out of China for education. And quite clear why those same parents buy milk powder from Hong Kong, cars from Europe and the U.S., and vacation abroad.

Sep 25, 2014 18:02 Report Abuse

Guest2301262

All cracks, from marriage to anchor baby to studying abroad to smuggling themselves out, are valid as they are merely means to an end. The quality of education simply isn't a significant factor in their grand escape.

Sep 25, 2014 01:45 Report Abuse

Garbo

That's all well and good as long as the students like the country in which they study. Often they're xenophobic idiots who don't even bigger having local friends.

Sep 24, 2014 00:23 Report Abuse

Burak43

I did my master's degree in China, and while I don't regret it it was fascinating to see how education really works in China. You hear a lot about how good the Chinese system is, and the math skills and what not. What a load of crap, the Chinese education is a joke, and does in no way prepare you for life "on the outside". An improvement would mean a redesign of the whole system from the ground up, I don't see any political will to do this. The education system here is also good to keep subjects in line with the party, so even less incentive to do real improvements.

Sep 23, 2014 16:38 Report Abuse

coineineagh

this article touches on the real issues of education as much as you could expect from self-righteous, facesaving china. focus of course on: "why are we losing our top (i.e. richest) students? it's because foreign highschools are more FUN & EASY (rubbish). oh, but it's not just rich retards who are leaving; some smart rich students ……(briefly discuss the real issues). solution: let students read books during noon naptime if they want. or let's abolish naptime and institute mandatory SUPER HAPPY GENIUS BOOKREADING FUN TIME!!!" feichanghao, china!

Sep 23, 2014 12:14 Report Abuse

dongbeiren

Of course the Chinese education system is driving people away. Why else would anyone who can afford to do so be sending their kids abroad? Chinese middle and high school students are MISERABLE. They have no social lives, no time for physical exercise and they don't learn how to think critically. With all of those long school days they still come out of the school system unprepared to be productive members of the workforce. They are drones who hate their lives and their only pleasure is playing computer games for half an hour a day. This has spawned a whole industry of providing assistance to Chinese students who want to get the f*ck out of China. I have worked with several students who managed to escape and they are THRILLED to be abroad. Why the hell would anyone subject their kids to life in the Chinese school system if they can afford not to?

Sep 23, 2014 11:05 Report Abuse

Mateusz

This also ignores the generall clusterfuck that is school administration. The people in positions of power and authority quite often (maybe not always, but often) get there due to connections, rather than ability. Additionally, due to the heirachical system, decisions are top down, with the administration never wanting to consult thier "inferioirs" for their opinions, since it'd be a loss of face. A most recent example is in the use of terrible English textbooks in the high schools. I've pointed out that they are terrible, with outdated expressions, and outright errors. They were used because the "leader" chose them. I asked if I could maybe talk to the leader... and was told that he doesn't speak English. So... the English textbooks were chosen by someone who didn't speak English, and without him consulting any native English speakers.

Sep 23, 2014 10:06 Report Abuse

Englteachted

The article should be re-titled "....Driving away Richest Students..." The students who could afford to are not necessarily good students (I know because I have tutored or had many of them as students). Just because someone is at a top school in China means absolutely nothing. Placements are for sale. And once there they are passed along. This is starting to happen in many foreign countries with Chinese students. Many schools find ways to 'help' them along because Chinese students pay a higher tuition and they can give them BS non credit remedial classes. Some schools would put them in a BS certificate program before allowing them to pursue an actual Masters Degree. Boarding High Schools are even more of a joke. Speaking about American schools, it is becoming more about business (money) than about Education. The best students I ever had in China were students from poor families and especially children of farmers. They had/ have to work their way through life.

Sep 23, 2014 08:29 Report Abuse

coineineagh

agreed. i'll call chinese "farmers" because thats one of the few insults that seems to sting these people, but in reality there are quite a few clever farmers in china. some of them dont waste time on "education" and i cant blame them.

Sep 23, 2014 17:35 Report Abuse