Non-public Education Provides More Opportunities for Students

Feng Jun would not have been able to study in the US without the aid of Xi'an Translation College. She failed the Chinese national college entrance examination, and it was Xi'an Translation College that bridged the gap in her path to higher education.

The Chinese economy has grown rapidly over the past 20 years, thereby requiring Chinese education to innovate in order to keep pace. Changes in educational concepts and methods have been gradual, exerting a subtle influence that is not immediately perceptible over a short time span. However, the change in methods of school management is obvious. The ownership of schools of higher education is no longer solely governmental, having developed from public colleges to encompass private colleges that are sometimes subsidized by the government. Many foreign educational institutes are also aiming for the Chinese education market.

Education gives people the chance of a bright future. According to a US survey, an individual's academic performance is in positive proportion to his/her future income, scope of social participation, political status, and other personal advantages. In China, talent selection has always been influenced directly by the standard of education of the candidate concerned. If they have not received a higher education, they will have little opportunity to find a well paid job with good prospects, and become part of the affluent, mobile sector of society. Many students who fail the national college entrance examination have to conform to their parent's social status and become farmers, workers or urban peddlers, and remain on the bottom rung of society all their lives. This is why Chinese parents go all out to send their children to college or university. The old Chinese saying, "thousands upon thousands of men try to cross a single-log bridge" truly reflects the overwhelming odds faced by students taking the college entrance examination.

Non-public schools have emerged under these circumstances. Ten years ago, they merely complemented public education, being poorly equipped, with too few teachers and a lack of management experience. Graduates from such schools had great difficulty in finding jobs due to a general lack of confidence in such institutions, yet these private colleges were originally created and developed with the aim of providing a chance for young people.

In recent years, more and more parents have realized that providing their children with a good education will give them the chance of a brighter future. They are therefore prepared to make sacrifices and live frugally in order to send their children to college and universities. The sizable revenue generated by education has also imbued the public schools with a more commercial slant. Nowadays, many public colleges offer various specialties, based on their teaching staff and teaching equipment, to attract students who have failed the national college entrance examinations. As a result, non-public colleges have risen from a mere complement to public colleges and universities to their rivals, a fact which is illustrated by the following statistics.

In autumn of 2000 in Xi'an, the capital city of Shaanxi Province, four private colleges headed by the Xi'an Translation College enrolled 30,000 new students. In this medium-sized city, there are nearly 40 non-public colleges with a total enrolment of 120,000 students, including six colleges whose total number of students is about 10,000 each. Meanwhile, there are 110,000 students attending public institutes of adult higher education, and in 40 public regular colleges and universities there is a total of 200,000 students.

At present, 50 non-public colleges are qualified to award diplomas of education recognized by the state and endorsed by the Ministry of Education and authorities of certain provinces, and 1,300 non-public colleges still do not have this right. More than 300 outstanding non-public colleges in different provinces and cities, being the pilot schools designated by the Ministry of Education, have the autonomy to set examinations on one third of their available courses. In cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, and those in coastal areas, non-public schools are generally located in the same areas as public colleges and universities.

However, owing to the influence of traditional concepts and management systems, non-public education still faces many difficulties. The government imposes stringent standards when gauging their credentials as educational agents, as some local authorities simply see their function as that of making a profit, rather than helping to improve the quality of education, so a strict taxation policy is therefore applied. Public colleges and universities are still the first choice for students, who turn to non-public schools only as a last resort. Being generally regarded as second class to their public peers, and without any reputation worthy of pride, non-public education institutes still have many difficulties and prejudices to overcome before they can further develop.

However, people of vision have already realized that to develop non-public colleges will not only increase opportunities for education, but also help establish a competition-based education system, which will lay a solid foundation for China's future progress and development. With this idea in mind, many leaders of non-public colleges pay great attention to their school equipment, quality of teaching, and management. Taking Xi'an Translation College as an example, its campus covers an area of 66.7 hectares in which there are more than 20 multimedia lecture theaters equipped with projectors, over ten language labs, a computer center, an integrated circuit lab, a 4,000-square- meter gymnasium, and a reading hall with a book deposit of nearly 200,000 and a seating capacity for 1,200. Xi'an Translation College operates under a closed management system, and has created a favorable environment wherein students may concentrate fully on their studies. Besides training students' written and spoken communication skills, the school pays great attention to cultivating their moral qualities.

In the 14 years since its establishment, Xi'an Translation College has accumulated assets of 300 million yuan, and provided higher education to more than 10,000 students, with an employment rate after graduation averaging 98 percent. Of all the graduates from Xi'an Translation College, nearly 20 percent have studied abroad. In 1998, 1999, and 2,000, the school enrolled 6,800, 7,000 and 9,700 students respectively. Among these, over 80 percent of newly enrolled students had a grade surpassing the minimum requirement for the national college entrance examination in Shaanxi Province, showing that non-public colleges have also become the choice for some students who could attend public colleges if they so chose.

Milton Friedman, a celebrated American economist, put forward the concept of free selection of schools during the 1950s. He wanted to introduce a competitive edge into the field of education so as to offer students of different races and economic backgrounds more educational opportunities, and to reduce government interference in education. Chinese non-public colleges are now operating on these lines. On the one hand, they have introduced a competitive element into Chinese education circles, creating more opportunities for students; on the other, the participation in education by all strata of the society has greatly reduced the government's burden in this area. As Ding Zuyi, principal of Xi'an Translation College, says, "Non-public colleges are playing a significant role in deepening educational reform, gearing tomorrow's workers to a market economy, relieving the tension generated by the college entrance examination, improving national quality, and cultivating talented personnel. They therefore have a bright future."

By HAO LIDONG