scholarly journals Contemporary Results of the Reforming of Higher Education in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (12) ◽  
pp. 79-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. S. Donetskaya ◽  
Tsyan’nan Tszi

The paper presents the analysis of the results of the Chinese higher education system reforming in the late 20th and early 21st century, shows the dynamics of the number of higher education institutions, the number of students and graduates. The structure of graduates in educational fields from 1995 to 2016 has been analyzed. The paper also presents the dynamics of funding of the China’s universities according to official statistics of China.The national educational reforms led to a rapid growth of the number of the universities and the number of students. Higher education has turned from the elite phenomenon to a mass one. Gross enrolment ratio in tertiary education had been increased in 9,5 times (from 1995 to 2016) and reached 42,7% in 2016. Now the Chinese government provides an extensive support to the students studying at foreign universities. It is worth mentioning that the percentage of students who had returned to China after studying abroad has been increased in three times from 28% in 1995 to 79% in 2016. The structure of graduates (according to educational fields) correlates with the needs of the growing Chinese economy: 34% of graduates have engineering professions. The largest rise of the number of graduates has been observed in economics and managerial specialties, as well as in pedagogy. The main contemporary result of the recent reforms is an international recognition of Chinese universities and a presence of the best of them in the top 100 of word university rankings.

Author(s):  
Xiaobin Li

The Chinese higher education system is the largest in the world, but distance education, using information communication technologies (ICTs), started later than in developed countries. In this paper, the author examines the benefits of education to human development and provides an overview of the recent development of distance higher education in China. The potential for further developing distance higher education with ICTs is considered. In addition, challenges are discussed and recommendations are made to improve Chinese distance higher education.


2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-64
Author(s):  
Jingyi Dong

This research focuses its inquiry on the economic aspect of rural university students' life in China, but the discussion goes beyond the economic field. Massification in the Chinese higher education system has increased the chance for rural youths to receive tertiary education. However, there is rarely sufficient data to record their status quo on the campus. This research intends to fill up the gap by making a comparison between the rural students who are located at different levels in the higher education system. This comparative analysis eventually leads to such findings: Those at the higher extreme of the hierarchy, who have more subsidies, tend to experience more frustration under financial pressure than those at the lower extreme, who are insufficiently funded. Presumably, the former are more directly exposed to rural-urban disparity. While the latter experience less frustration, they are less prepared to impacts from the unfamiliar urban society. The research, eventually going beyond the economic problems, has exposed a process in which the rural youths are victimized by the system that discriminates against the Chinese peasants, in which the higher education system plays a critical role. Key words: higher education, inequality, poverty, rural students.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 221258682110460
Author(s):  
Bowen Xu

Chinese higher education institutions have experienced an unprecedented expansion and major reforms since the late 1990s. The revolutionary growth has not only established the largest higher education system in the world but has also transformed an elite system to a post-massified one over the last two decades. The expansion policy was largely an economically justified proposal that has emerged under certain conditions. However, reform has been criticised for not delivering the promised outcomes. The article examines the historical development of higher education expansion in China, investigating its rationales, practices and the extent to which the policy has become a paradox during massification. As China moves into the post-massification stage, the article forecasts emerging policy trends and highlights future challenges. It considers restructuring state-education relationship through mechanisms of funding, provision and regulation as options for governing the ever growing and massifying system more sustainably in the upcoming era.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anfeng Sheng

Since the 1990s, the Chinese government has begun to propose a neologism – the educational concept of ‘intrinsic development’. On the occasion of the 2012 Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress, President Jinping Xi again called upon people to promote the intrinsic development of higher education. During the past 25 years, Chinese higher education has gone through drastic changes and reforms, but regrettably the idea of intrinsic development has not been expounded or defined adequately, let alone properly practised. Based on actual developments in the past and on the present situation, the author of the present article aims to examine the concept of intrinsic development and how it has been neglected or even betrayed in reality. The author concludes that the core idea of the intrinsic concept lies in improving the academic quality and level of Chinese higher education instead of worshipping the dazzling numbers of papers published and projects undertaken, in the natural growth of education from the inside instead of the quantitative expansion pushed by outside forces, in building the higher institutions and the disciplines with distinctive features instead of pursuing universal ‘comprehensiveness,’ and in developing a higher education in accordance with its internal and intrinsic laws instead of submitting to external forces, whether they are political, economic, or commercial.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fuhui Li

In the process of internationalizing higher education, national governments play their role differently, and the relationship between Chinese institutions and the government is significantly different from that experienced by Western institutions. A critical distinction is that Chinese institutions are both academic entities and government institutions that implement government policies and goals. In relation to the internationalization of higher education, the Chinese government has shown a strong supporting attitude and has four main roles: national strategy designer and program planner, major funding provider, executive director, and regulator and supervisor. The internationalization of Chinese higher education has always been strategically designed and programmed by the government; consequently institutions formulate their own strategies and plans within the framework of the national ones. Though fundamental reforms are being implemented continuously, the Chinese government is still the major provider of funding for internationalization, just as it is for the whole public education sector. The Chinese government also acts like the executive director of a corporation in managing the internationalization of higher education. Government regulation and supervision are deeply embedded in the daily operation of Chinese institutions owing to political anxieties and economic considerations. The government’s four roles could be seen as inevitable and shared widely by many national governments, yet they are essential for characterizing the way the Chinese government plays its roles. This paper presents a theoretical exploration of governmental roles in internationalizing higher education, a topic that has attracted too little attention and requires further systematic analysis by educational researchers.


Author(s):  
Xue Lan Rong ◽  
Shuguang Wang

A theoretical model of positioned, positioning, and repositioning is used to conceptualize the evolving process of the internationalization of Chinese higher education and answer the following three questions: (a) How have the quantitative trends of Chinese students studying abroad and international students studying in China changed over the past 30 years? (b) What are the differences between Chinese students studying abroad and international students studying in China in recent years, in terms of the host and sending countries, the level of study, and the fields of study, and what do the differences mean when compared to those in other countries? (c) What are the challenges, opportunities, and strategies in the years to come? To answer the first question, a compilation of descriptive quantitative data is used from numerous large national and international data sources, which reports a long-term upward trend (with some fluctuations) of inbound international students in China and outbound Chinese international students around the world over the past 30 years. To answer the second question, using general international mobile student profiles for context, data were compared of inbound international students in China and the United States in terms of both level of study and field of study. These revealed imbalanced patterns: Chinese outbound students are more likely to be in certain fields (e.g., STEM, business) and at graduate levels, but international students in China are more likely to be undergraduate students and non-degreed students in the humanities and language studies. Based on the data for the first two questions, the issues are synthesized in order to present the opportunities and challenges regarding the continuation of China’s internationalization of its higher education, especially with respect to inbound international students. In terms of issues and opportunities, economic and other impacts (such as political, financial, and pandemic related) are highlighted and call China’s attention to maintaining and expanding the strengths of its higher education system while considering competition from neighboring countries. Six major challenges are identified in this area, and suggestions are provided.


Author(s):  
Xiaobin Li

The Chinese higher education system is the largest in the world, but distance education, using information communication technologies (ICTs), started later than in developed countries. In this paper, the author examines the benefits of education to human development and provides an overview of the recent development of distance higher education in China. The potential for further developing distance higher education with ICTs is considered. In addition, challenges are discussed and recommendations are made to improve Chinese distance higher education.


Author(s):  
Xiaobin Li

Chinese education has a long history, and the Chinese higher education system is the largest in the world, but distance higher education in China started later than it did in developed countries. This article provides an overview of the recent distance higher education development in China. Specifically, the article discusses the positive impact distance higher education has had and the difficulties that have to be dealt with. The potential for further developing distance education is considered. In addition, challenges are discussed, and recommendations are made to improve distance education.


2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaobin Li ◽  
Linbin Zhao

The Chinese higher education system is the largest in the world. Having an understanding of the Chinese system helps to provide a better understanding of international education. This article discusses the commitments China has made under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), these commitments’ implications for Chinese higher education, and Chinese attitudes towards foreign education. It also discusses the recent development of international cooperation in Chinese higher education. Chinese are interested in learning from developed countries, the demand for higher education continues to grow in China, and most Chinese scholars believe internationalization is beneficial. Indications are Chinese higher educators will expand their cooperation with international colleagues to meet changing social needs. In internationalizing Chinese higher education, GATS may play a facilitating role. L’éducation supérieure chinoise est la plus grande du monde. Comprendre le système chinois aide à comprendre le système international. Cet article discute les accords que la Chine a pris en signant l’Accord Général sur le Commerce des Services (AGCS), les implications pour l’éducation supérieure chinoise et les attitudes chinoises envers l’éducation étrangère. Il expose également les derniers développements de coopération internationale dans l’éducation supérieure chinoise. Les chinois sont intéressés à apprendre des pays développés. La demande d’éducation supérieure continue à croître en Chine et la plupart des intellectuels chinois pensent que l’internationalisation est positive. Les professeurs d’éducation supérieure chinoise vont donc chercher à accroître la coopération avec leurs collègues internationaux afin de répondre aux besoins sociaux actuels. L’AGCS jouera certainement un rôle majeur dans l’internationalisation de l’éducation supérieure de ce pays.


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