‘Expansion without precedent’: the Education scene in China today.

According to Yale president, Richard Levin in 2010, ‘China has built the largest higher-education sector in the world within a decade.  This expansion in capacity is without precedent.’

• China has 4000 million students
• Children typically start formal education at age 2
• Almost all youth in school for 9 years
• Attendance in Primary School is 99% Tuition is free
• Since 1986, there are 70,000 private schools at all levels.
• 60% of High School graduates go on to third level.
• There are 2.000 universities and colleges with 2 million students
• ‘Harvard Girl’ was a ‘how-to’ bestseller in 2000, written by the parents of a girl who went to Harvard.
• 127,000 Chinese students are in the USA, they are the largest group of foreign students there.
• There are 14,000 American students in China.
• There are 2,700 Chinese students and 2,400 in Ireland-related institutes in China.
• There are also 2,400 English language students from China in Ireland.

In February I gave a talk on ‘Other Beings, Relationships and Morals in North East Asia.’ It may sound a bit academic but it was just a sharing of what I had learnt about the views of the people there among whom I lived for most of my life.

About twenty-five people turned up, half of them from Asia, half from the West. Most of them were post-grad students and I was impressed by their interest and questions. One issue was the role of feelings: did Asian people not suppress their feelings too much or did Westerners give vent to their feeling too much without considering those of others?
One man thought that I was too positive about China and wanted to know some of its failings. I replied that there was no shortage of faults in both Chinese and Irish society but I wanted to focus on the positive elements we could learn from each other. Others found their imagination captured by aspects of Chinese culture and that gave them alternative ways of looking at what they were studying.

For those living near Dublin, there are regular talks and gatherings organised by the East/West group.

It seems that 229 foreign teachers in Beijing and Shanghai have been arrested in China for working with a Z visa. Most of them were recruited by people who promised 50,000 dollar a year to those without a university degree or work visa.

The story became public last summer when the police sent someone for a job interview wearing a hidden microphone. The recruiter was arrested as were some of the foreign teachers whose resumes were in his briefcase. Those arrested had a choice: go to jail for pay a fine. Then they were deported. There may be another thousand teachers soon finding themselves in a similar position.

It appears that the police are using a sting operation on Twitter and Facebook to discover who the agents and illegal teachers are.

Triona O’Driscoll comments on some of the incidents that struck her during her time in Chongqing

“I witnessed an amazing spectacle at autumn Moon Festival. As I walked around the campus, I saw little groups of students gathered under the night sky, sitting on the grass, chatting, playing cards or other games and eating moon cakes. These are round like the moon and celebrate harmony and unity in the family. This is the night to ‘appreciate’  the Harvest Moon when it is as its biggest, roundest and brightest. It is part of the intangible heritage of China. Everyone seed so happy and content and there was no rowdyism whatever. By the way, the Chinese see a woman in the moon.”

“Another spectacular sight was the 6,500 freshmen, all dressed in fatigues and green canvas shoes. They look like little dolls as they march around in companies of about 100 with one or two soldiers in charge of each group. It is very impressive. They spend their first two weeks at the university doing physical training. A student told me that this is to teach them discipline and endurance!”

“Chongqing is a mountain city with majestic landscapes, a dense population, innumerable skyscrapers, neon lights and the ever-popular spicy Hot Pot. They say one needs a new city map every three months to keep up with its development.”

The reasons for relaunching the AITECE website seem obvious: to attract more volunteer for teaching in China and to keep in touch with the returned teachers. It could also be a means of spreading interest in China. But why China?

For anyone who has spent some time there it shouldn’t take long to come up with an answer. For most, their interaction with the people has led to a desire to keep in touch, to learn from what they saw there and encourage others to go and share the experience. China opens eyes to new possibilities and challenges long held values. Whether those who went were fully conscious of it or not, their efforts were contributing to world peace. Positive personal engagement overcomes many of the mutual suspicions and fears that politicians can sew between East and West.

So I start this blog as a means of sharing what enriched my own life and to get others to share what they learnt. I hope it will give more personal and reliable insights into what is happening both in China and in Chinese-Irish circles.  There are over 60,000 Chinese in Ireland at present and it would be interesting to know how they are getting on. Also, I am in the same residence as six of them so they will be my sounding board and resource panel!

Keep in touch and send in your own contributions.

Here’s what John has to say about his time in China.

“When I asked Chinese students about their plans for the future they often replied that it was important after graduation to find a good job so that they could look after their parents in old age. I found that this answer reflects a number of things: the enormous sacrifices that many Chinese parents, especially from the countryside, make so that their children can have a better life; the strength of family ties in China and the esteem in which older people are held.”

“It wasn’t unusual to be told by a student that both parents had left the home in the countryside several years before and migrated to a city hundreds of miles away. There both the parents worked, in what many would considered menial jobs, to fund their child’s education. They might all meet together once a year at Spring Festival. Grandparents care for the child or children. Three generations under one roof is not uncommon in China.”

“Now the increasing number of cars on campus reflect the rising standard of living in the cities. I found that pets have become something of a fashion accessory. It wasn’t unusual to see people walking dyed dogs. Sometimes the dog was dyed to match its owner’s outfit. I saw several pink dogs and one white poodle with its ears dyed blue and the tip of its tail orange.”