University enrollment wrong with it

 Reprinted:
wrong to
expanding enrollment text / Min Tang
Since 1999 the university enrollment has opened a new chapter in the history of Chinese higher education. In a short span of five to six years in expansion of university enrollment by nearly 3 times that have long plagued the young kids to college difficult problem has been greatly eased. However, there is a recent public opinion in society that the enrollment expansion wrong, along with the emergence of large scale enrollment expansion Some issues: such as poor school attendance difficult, difficult for graduates to find jobs, declining quality of education, etc. all due to market-oriented reforms. more some of the points in order to negate the whole education reform. We believe that indeed there are many worthy Enrollment Improvement place. However, the current higher education in China, the problems occur, not enrollment in the wrong direction, nor is it a combination of education reform and the market wrong, but rather the shortcomings of the past in the planning system has not completely eliminated, transformation of government functions not in place, caused by the reform is still not perfect. Education is not the market, but not combined with the market, not the education services for the market economy, certainly no way out. for enrollment in the emergence of some negative issues, can not be partial Almost all, especially for some specious arguments can not interfere with our reforms. We should unswervingly promote reform of education, only in the continuous reform of education in China have a way out.
one. If there is no enrollment
Since the enrollment year, our annual general college enrollment from the college in 1999 to 160 million to 447 million in 2004. In the number of students increased to 1334 from 413 million people. such a large scale expansion of enrollment, to tens of millions of young students into the Higher School, and began a new leap forward in life. According to the United Nations, our proportion of school-age youth for higher education from 1991 to 2003 increased 3% to 13%, from the world ranked 131, up to 114. Expansion of the large social impact in China, not be underestimated. In the cities, young college-age has not been easy. I often go to poor areas in recent years, access to many very remote villages to see With the first in the history of a college student. University enrollment greatly enhance the quality of the nation, so our level of education, human capital levels are a big step on its far-reaching impact in the next ten to twenty years will be more clearly apparent.
large enrollment in the same time, colleges and universities themselves has been the rapid development of several universities from 1999 to 1071, increased to 1,731 in 2004. university teachers has increased by 1 fold. high school , while also expanding graduate education, high school students in school also doubled, from 1999 to 1049.7 million to 2220.4 million in 2004; graduate students have expanded by 2.5 times. can be said that the College Expansion into China for the future higher level of international competition for independent innovation and development laid a solid foundation of talent and knowledge.
for a way of thinking, if there is no enrollment, so what is the situation now? First in the current half of college students do not enter more than the University, had already entered the ranks of employment or unemployment. not because of high school enrollment, most of them can not get to high school. In other words, schools in the tens of millions of young people four to advance seven years to enter the labor market. junior high school qualifications and quality, with migrant workers so that they can only compete for jobs or laid-off workers. In the past five years the number of re-employment of laid-off workers up to 1800 people. with these early high school compared to young people, laid-off workers at a disadvantage in the competition, so if there is no enrollment, is likely to have about half of the current re-employment of the laid-off workers will be out of these young people go.
If there is no enrollment, which may have been today reality! not enrollment of unemployment is more serious than it is now; our weaker international competitiveness; China's higher education there is no performance today.
II. in the end the number of poor students not go to university
Most of the criticism of the university enrollment increased tuition fees for poor students has led to the phenomenon of school hard. Admittedly, tuition increase, on the part of poor households to form a lot of pressure. does not rule out the individual can not afford college tuition for not go to school example. However, if this is only a few cases, it should be handled by one example. You can not generalize, some special cases as a common phenomenon, and even asserts that They can not afford college no longer read, years, according to the Ministry of Education requires all freshmen when they reported to be open to students from poor families the green channel, so that all new students from poor families first apply for admission procedures, and then a different approach under the circumstances to be funded. poor college students denied poor students admission may be made to the Ministry of Education a complaint. online reports of individual students from poor families to give up school because of tuition opportunities, the vast majority are not public universities.
fair, since enrollment, the State, institutions of higher learning and the whole community effort to solve the problem of poor students. After some years of efforts, China has basically established the about 5% of households particularly difficult monthly subsidy of 150 yuan per student, a total benefit of 67 million poor students. The Ministry of Education also provides college tuition must be used to finance 10% of students from poor families. Meanwhile, the departments concerned to help reform the state School loans implementation mechanism, in principle, according to in-school 20% of the total number of paid student loans. With the establishment of individual credit system, not on time but also a timely recourse loans, college loans debts of the problem should be greatly eased. This in turn can greatly improve the commercial banks and policy banks to issue student loan initiative. I believe in a range of student loans within two years will continue to expand.
III. address the possibility of poor students go to school way out
difficult for poor students problems, to take measures to give a special address. Even if the tuition down to about 3,000 yuan before enrollment levels, the difficulties they have to pay. The fundamental way is to jump out of the traditional idea of reform, University student a reasonable way of subsidies, so that poor families can not afford, subsidies for wealthy families to enjoy the strange phenomenon of free riding. to take on students of different family income levels to give different subsidies, together with the expansion of student loans, poor students go to school in China difficult problem should be solved in general.
non-university education compulsory education, more suited to who benefited and who pay a fee principle. Even the enrollment rate of school-age youth up to 50% -70% of the Western countries in recent years students pay tuition fees also increase the proportion of benefit. In recent decades, as people understand the depth of the economic problems, many traditional financial support from the public goods are also eliminated subsidies, while the use of costs higher education is more a matter of course few people enjoy the same principle should also be used.
, of course, in real life, the state each year was allocated a huge amount of financial investment to go to university education. According to statistics, average students per capita cost of 14,000 yuan per year. And now for the 5000-6000 college tuition dollars per capita. That fact directly or indirectly, the state financial year college students to provide each element of student grants 8000-9000. This kinds of student grants are not fall from the sky, is the 28 families came to pay tax. For more than a college student grants grants for 50 students. Shangqie year compulsory education in rural areas in the current circumstances, should be charged, on the non-compulsory education University should charge a fee of course.
way we are paid from the university under the planned economy, kinds of payment of student grants extremely fair and reasonable manner. state funds not fall from the sky, or that this subsidy per student 8000-9000 yuan, is actually made up of 28 families out of tax to pay. with This taxes on lower income families can not afford school fees to give some subsidies, but also time being available economic theory to explain the transfer payments, excusable. This financial allocation to poverty reduction by the same reason. However, from 27 families pay taxes to subsidize a young wealthy families ability to pay for college, not a very rational.
can not be counted as However, if the child has a few months old, ten years old, so the distribution is not very fair.
a current popular view of society is overweight college tuition, more than the average family to pay levels, tuition fees should be lower. We agree that, even before the enrollment fee of 3,000 yuan a year, for most part of rural families and families of urban subsistence allowances, but also a very heavy burden. But the undeniable fact is that for the other part of the family, this is the affordable tuition fees. Every year big money on school choice, tuition, and also no shortage of studying at their own expense. For example, in China the average disposable income of urban residents was 10,000 yuan, disposable income of a family of three person-years was 30,000 yuan, according to 20% of the annual income to count, 5,000 of tuition fees is not particularly unreasonable. even in the farmers have higher income. ignores the ability of people to pay the difference. there can not afford the poor the rich the strange phenomenon of free riding subsidized.
Therefore, as with any supplement or the release of pro-poor models as reasonable and effective issuance of student grants approach should be on families with different income levels different levels of student grants. very poor families should be free of tuition fees of university students; more difficult to be part of the fee remission; and fewer families can afford to accept subsidies.
, of course, This grant program in practice can be improved according to specific circumstances. For example, we can implement the fee remission based, not being asked to raise tuition fees for wealthy families. provides a number of years, additional state funding for universities, university revenue , college savings, a large percentage of the tuition fees for relief; to poor students in the state loan interest subsidies for poor students directly for fee remission; the tax department of the community to be donated to poor students free tuition; of fireworks grams of 5 to 10 times the tax subsidy for poor students, etc..
At the same time, we can put the function of student loans and expand the scope of the student loan repayment period was extended to 10-15 years the student loans from the current subsidies for poor students features into open to all students, even for well-off families are also non-discriminatory student loans. Thus, even in the state of university finances is temporarily unable to put the case more , but also largely solve the difficult problem of poor enrollment. while also reducing the reality of the other students to pay income families pressure.
four, the University received a fee is to educate industry do?
the income of college students a fee equivalent to the education industry is a misunderstanding. I have always been opposed to the industrialization of education mentioned this concept, because it confuses different levels of education. As many scholars have pointed out, what is the education industry itself is a very clear Concept. there is no basic education in any country is a functioning market-oriented industry, the contrary is provided by the state finance public goods. higher education can not be completely operational by the market.
a certain amount of tuition fees on college students does not mean is the education industry. In one sense, this is the fairness performance. of non-university education compulsory education, to receive formal university education, after all, a few people. Even today, after enrollment, with an average of 28 college students have a family. modern educational theory, not yet universal higher education for developing countries, higher education closer to the nature of general merchandise, who is more suited to benefit pays principle. national finance should support education, but not all the education and educated population, is the lack of a long-standing problem, the government also increasing investment in education. However, investment in financial education should reflect the principle of fairness. In our country, fair enough financial investment in education is reflected in the too little investment in rural education . low-income farmers to pay most of the cost of education. to solve the problem of investment in education is not fair, we should increase investment in rural education.
unfair investment in education is also reflected in our re-education funding higher education, light the tendency of basic education. fiscal spending, just as a family expense, there is a question of priorities. Even within education, the state's investment should have a priority order, first of all should ensure compulsory education, and then be put into higher education , vocational education, pre-school education and so on, rather than the contrary, the bulk of on higher education. China's GDP, the ratio of expenditure on education, already well below the international average. And in the limited allocation of funding for education, for higher the funding of education the proportion of total education spending and far higher than the world average. In the past few years, the state universities were added to the input of hundreds of billions.
At this stage, the Government has money to be first investment in rural education, investment in basic education. the first full-year compulsory education in rural areas to make free, to reduce unnecessary burden on farmers. Meanwhile, in rural primary and middle school teaching aids investment, investment in teacher training in rural areas. Similarly, If there is no certain scale in rural areas, high school, college, children of the farmer the chance of inequality. expanding rural high school, vocational education for farmers to expand and improve their teaching quality. If it is possible, but also the city free and compulsory education gradually introduced. of which require substantial investment. These are related to all farmers, all the people of the event. to the fairness of the education, these issues must be resolved first.
Therefore, for a long period of time, public finance in higher education input, can not and should have rapid growth. From this point, the settlement funds from the university reduce costs, reduce waste and make efforts for social services, services for enterprises and work hard , in the mobilization of community contributions and work hard. university problems in these areas is not caused by education reform, it is the combination of higher education and the market is not caused by tight.
five. Chinese students too much?
Some university graduates find work with the current difficult to prove that there is no need to increase enrollment. on the excess or shortage of higher education in China is also on the enrollment criteria for judging the merits and demerits of one. no comparison there is no identification. Let us make some international comparison. from the UNESCO-age youth with the caliber of the indicators, enrollment, enrollment rate of higher education in China in 2002 was 13%, South Korea 71.69%, 29.45% Philippines, Thailand was 31.92%. of higher education is just crossed the internationally recognized threshold of mass higher education. If the United States, Europe and other developed countries than bad, but even half the rate of economic growth and per capita GDP of our country and our comparable Philippines, Thailand can support such a high proportion of college students, why can not accommodate our current economic employment of college graduates do?
from a macro point of view, Graduates in the Job is the economic restructuring process of the change in the employment structure of the temporary difficulties, in part because not enough students and not the concept of employment adjustment could well seize the opportunity, there are higher education reform lags behind economic development. But this does not mean that students of excess, surplus personnel. China market more fully to accommodate the students. not because they are temporary difficult to give up the big education appropriate development strategies.
Employment and Industrial Change, economic development has a direct relationship between the cycle and so on. At present, employment is difficult not only students, the whole society there is the difficult problem of employment. nearly 10 years, increasing pressure on employment in China, but in the short term can not be fundamentally resolved. From 1995 to 2005, the state-owned enterprises and collective enterprises in the reduction of more than 6000 million jobs. From the perspective of the reform Look, this is a step forward. in the past seems very few people unemployed on the surface that everyone has work, but the actual five people to do two things, not only low wages, five people still fighting with each other.'s economic development into efficient, two posts only two people to eat. However, from the employment point of view, the problems accumulated over decades of concentrated solution in a few years, there will be a temporary imbalance in the labor market. In addition, our policy-driven, and not to employment put priority on the real issues. too many local governments to pursue economic growth, increased priority to the development strategy. from the financial, fiscal and policy are to high-tech, big business tilt. recent increase in number of enterprises and economic projects employment is often not high carrying capacity. Over the past decade of economic growth for each percentage point of non-agricultural jobs created was only one-third of the 80's. the formation of a .
cause students content and teaching methods obsolete, trained many of the qualities and abilities of students meeting market needs. However, bad things can change a good thing, perhaps precisely because of the difficult employment students, will further promote people to appeal to a number of years have not been able to promote some of the Reform of higher education. In the past graduates always , the school basically do not care about market demand. is now a market economy, too close to the students, people will no longer buy your services, professional future will be canceled. This prompted us to college to better integration with the market. the face of a market economy, many companies the last ten years have also experienced the ; the policy, making the basic job market, the market mechanism has begun to play its role. accustomed to the employment under the planned economy system concept, many students in the market mechanism on the hand, the job market with the ; elite education than the number of graduates does not seem to even short of adequate. for the employment of college graduates overall case, is entered into a , must be part of the college graduates engaged in popular education adapted to low-level work. This is also the social development and progress. in higher education has been popular countries, college graduates are often doing the work in the most basic . Thus the employment of college graduates to be adjusted outlook and employment expectations, and establish popular on employment. The correct self-understanding, understanding social job requirements, identify their own social position of employment.
Finally, we are now widely reported in the so-called one-time employment rate whether the science is also worth exploring. definition is not clear, scientific data everywhere, and then after the media hype, the panic can also cause people to mislead students, misleading parents, but also mislead, it will affect the current situation we do the correct judgments. time employment rate refers to the students signing rate in July. and assign different rigid planned economy, market economy, find an ideal job will take some time, in just a few months or even six months Can not find work is also normal. In addition, in our statistics, flexible employment, which did not sign the contract, in small and micro enterprises are often no employment of university students are in the data. In fact, such employment statistics or are we under the planned economy over the past allocation of a continuation of employment patterns. We should take a common international approach to a more market-oriented statistical methods.
VI. Reform the reform of the improvement or improving
by the This can be seen, the current higher education in China, the problems occur, not enrollment in the wrong direction, nor is it a combination of education reform and the market wrong, but rather the planning system in the past has not completely eliminate the drawbacks of the Government No functional changes in place, caused by the reform is still not perfect.
present society there is a view that the reform is not perfect, if not changed. We do not agree with this view. China's reform process is several decades to gradual reform. reform itself is a very complex process, people's understanding of reform there is a deepening process. can not put everything in the early stages of reform, designed to be so perfect. If you wait until everything is well designed, and the legal system are sound, and the enforcement mechanisms and personnel training, well, come to reform, then this piece of land in China, the reform will never not start.
get enrollment problems, for example, if the students were able to meet the large-scale student loans, the difficult problem of poor students go to school may be able to significantly slow down. In fact, our enrollment in the proposed program, the implementation of student student loan is one of the most important recommendations. the State Council, Ministry of Education and other departments also had very detailed The student loan program to motivate students and the pilot. However, due to the banking reform is not in place, my personal information systems were not established, the concept of people's credit is also more vague. spent on student loans, the recovery of bad debts , but also because our laws do not improve, the court costs are too high and difficult to enforce implementation. Therefore, no large-scale commercial banks to carry out the enthusiasm of student loans. Even to this day, student loans are still unsatisfactory. But these are operating policy is not in place, is related to policy implementation process ineffective due. to wait for banks reform, well, the law is perfect, and credit concepts are built up before going to enrollment, then we may have to wait until one of these years went. reforms should be complete, but it does not mean that everything is not supporting the reform is not good.
sense, if not some breakthrough in the reform of such enrollment, we may not know regime serious lack of good faith, is seriously lagging behind banking reform, policy poor implementation and the creation of high growth and high employment, and so is not the economy and society major issues. These should be further reform should not be allowed enrollment in these institutions for the crime problem, but can not deny enrollment to delay on these issues in-depth reform. seize the key issues in the reform bold change, the emergence of new problems to be resolved in a timely manner, continue to pros and cons, can not be perfect. seize the reform of some of the problems, focusing on one point, excluding the other, in order to negate the entire reform, this attitude is not desirable. We can not allow some specious arguments, some without compare figures, plus some media speculation of some network, interfere with our reforms.
international competition in the twenty-first century is fundamentally talent competition. The current reality is far behind China's education level of economic development, but can not be said to be moderately ahead. even from a quantitative point of view, China's percentage of college-age youth is far lower than in the same development level, even below our level of development of developing countries. from the quality point of view Our education is not keep up with market needs. a country than other countries in order to develop faster, to be in education, especially higher education on the appropriate development. Expansion of the far-reaching economic effects, and will certainly emerge in the future . At present the problems in enrollment is only temporary difficulties in transition, the problem can not be short-term strategic decisions as the basis for long-term development, not because of temporary difficulties, the shortcomings of some of the work in question, and give up the appropriate development of higher education a major strategy . We should unswervingly promote education reform in the reform of university education continue to promote the growth of the scale, the only way only way out for China's education.
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Min Tang Min Tang, Sina Box of the Asian Development Bank Resident Mission alternates. Peking University's China Center for Economic Research, Wuhan University, Federation of Southern University, part-time professor, the Great Wall Finance Research Fellow, 50 members of the Chinese economy.