CRS 334: Education in China

Jinjing Li Professor Greenky CRS 334 4.21.19 Education in China Education is universally regarded as the key to opportunities and success. The usage of this phrase has extensively encouraged people to pursue education as a tool for personal growth and economic liberation. As a result, people tend to look for the best education systems or highly acclaimed schools that can support their intellectual growth and facilitate the development of their critical and analytical skills. In most cases, western nations like the United States, Canada, Australia, and Canada have always been viewed as the best learning environment for students. These western nations are highly regarded in the international arena for being developed, reputable, and civilized. As a result, most students from developing countries admire studying in these countries and getting the opportunity to interact with the best learning environments. China has consistently sent its students to these countries to pursue higher education. Today, China contributes the highest percentage of international students studying abroad. One the common factors attributes to this high percentage is the inability of China to capitalize on the increasing demand for art-related courses. In this regard, it is crucial to discuss Chinese education to understand factors that motivate students from China to study overseas. The lack of belief on the education systems put in place in China leads to increase on the number of students pursuing education opportunities abroad. Even though China has a huge population that is not likely to fit in the available higher education opportunities in the country, the constant increase in the number of international students from China suggests that various push and factors are encouraging this trend (Postiglione 73). The annual intake of Chinese universities is approximated to be at 7.5 million. On the other side, research shows that out of the five million international students who are getting education out of their own countries, one out of four come from China (Xueni, 2011). Even though the country has great market opportunities which remain untapped, the above information illustrates that most of the Chinese international students value education opportunities offered abroad as compared to the one offered locally. China is emerging as a global economy and there is the development of a rigorous education system. In this rigorous Chinese education curriculum, students are valued based on their grades and academic performances. As a result, the only way of securing a position in a prestigious university is by posting good grades and exhibiting exemplary academic performances. Similarly, for students to be admitted into prestigious universities, they must sit for the versatile national university admission examination and achieve top scores (Postiglione 12). Due to the high population of students compared to the relatively low university positions available, most of the students miss out and do not get university admission. It has extensively been demonstrated that the value of education does not come from cramming ideas and memorizing concepts but by conceptualization and contextualization of the academic content to make it’s more useful or applicable in life....