Author Archives: Chaoyi

Comparative Data Show that Chinese Progress in Higher Education yet to Turn Tide

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In the past few weeks, we talked about higher education in Japan, South Korea, China, and India. Recently, THE DataPoints (Times Higher Education) provides a set of useful and interesting comparative data between China and three major Asian countries respectively: India, South Korea, and Japan.

Here is the news published on THE:

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/chinas-universities-significant-progress-more-do

The article reveals where Chinese universities are starting to outpace their rivals, as well as illustrating where China is still relatively lagging behind.

China VS India

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The China-India chart shows that China has surpassed India on most measures. It can be attributed to several reasons:

  • The higher HE investment of the Chinese government
  • Successful and dynamic policies attracting its talents back home and international students studying in China
  • The development of research collaborations between industry and academia

However, one metric proves a blog posted two weeks ago that India has a higher number of doctorates awarded than China.

China VS South Korea

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The article gives a high rating to South Korea’s HE system. THE data scientist said that “South Korea was the shining example to any education ministry about how to improve their university sector.” There are two key aspects that China needs to catch up:

  • The diversity of money sources – the government, industry, and student fees
  • International collaboration – a key way to improve citation impact

However, although there is a gap between the two countries now, the article is optimistic about the future development of China’s higher education because of the outpouring of support from the Chinese government.

China VS Japan

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I remember that Sho talked about the evolution of the balance between private and public funding in Japan’s HE. The China-Japan chart shows that Japan’s universities are behind both China and South Korea on the amount of income that universities are attracting from industry.

It is very interesting that Japan has a much higher staff-to-student ratio than China. However, the article claims that it is because of the collapse of the youth population in the country and it brings serious challenges for Japan to keep its leading role in Asia and globally.

 

Questions: Do you think that the data and metrics THE Data picked up reflect the real situation in your country? Why? Does this article present the future layout of Asian HE?

HE: Are Separate Admission Processes for International Students Fair in China?

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On this Friday, a new round of Fudan University Debate will get under way again. As one of the former debate team instructors, my student sent me the first-round debate’s topic: Are Separate Admission Processes for International Students Fair in China? Coincidentally, when searching for this week’s news to share, I happened to see an article posted on the recent newsletter of University World News for the same subject. Thus, our group gives me an opportunity to share this interesting piece along with the controversial topic for discussion.

Here is the news:

http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20170222122830767

After Tsinghua University announced last year that foreign applicants would not have to take a standardized writing test for undergraduate courses, there were lots of concerns about the unfair admissions procedures that students with foreign passports are gaining relatively easy access to the country’s most prestigious institutions. Recently, Tsinghua published the complete new rules for the admission of foreign students which pushed the topic to the forefront again.

The critics argue that higher education in China is becoming a serious social problem. They believe that if other colleges and universities introduce similar rules, it would increase the education injustice and inequality in China. They also worry about the student quality and compare it to the hard process Chinese outstanding students apply for the U.S. top universities.

Another sensitive issue raised in the article is about the generous scholarship offered by the government for foreign students. Even in Fudan, it is the same situation that the percentage of foreign students who can get scholarships is much higher than domestic students. Some local students’ parents argue that why they pay the tax to subsidize foreign students at the end.

But others defended the policy. The purpose of the new policy is to expand the scope of applications and thus make the process more competitive than before. It is necessary because the percentage of international students is an important measure of a university’s global influence.

What is your opinion on this topic? Do you think whether Tsinghua’s decision is wise or not?

What is the education equity? Does the new admission policy and scholarship policy violate the principle of higher education?

Is it really good to have a rapid increase number of foreign students for Chinese universities?

Do other Asian countries have the similar situation or good example to share?

Related posts:

Ambitious drive for foreign students is paying off

http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20160916134031945

The number of international student enrollment in China:

http://www.iie.org/Services/Project-Atlas/China/International-Students-In-China#.WLR6dTsrI2w

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