Chinese universities look globally
By Elvis Anber
eanber@uwo.ca
When Philipp Zukernik of Montreal accompanied his father on a business trip to mainland China five years ago, he became enamoured with what he saw.
“I liked that there’s a lot of history. Even though it’s really modern, they keep their history and culture. I like that people speak different dialects. Wherever you go, there’s also a local dialect. I like the food.”
Zukernik – a francophone who speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and Shanghainese, the local dialect in Shanghai - decided three years ago he would go to university in China where he has been since at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology pursuing a bachelor’s of business administration.
And when the opportunity arose to study for a semester at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, about 150 kilometres southwest of Shanghai, he took it, relishing the chance to experience mainland education firsthand.
By choosing to study on the mainland, Zukernik isn’t alone. As China continues to rise on the global stage, the Middle Kingdom is looking to increase the number of international students at its universities by close to 50 per cent by 2020 to 500,000. China has ambitious plans to become a global education hub and hopes more students like Zukernik dot its campuses.
According to China’s Ministry of Education, the number of foreign students studying at Chinese campuses, including Mandarin language learners, degree seekers and exchange students, was 265,090 in 2010, an increase of more than 35,000 from 2009.
The students came from 194 countries, with South Korea sending over the largest group. The United States, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, Indonesia, India, Kazakhstan and Pakistan followed. According to the 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, six mainland universities made the top 200, including the country’s most well-known schools: Beijing University, Tsinghua University and Fudan University. Zhejiang University also made the list.
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| Courtesy of Philipp Zukernik |
| Philipp Zukernik is studying for a semester at Zhejiang University in China. |
In addition to offering more classes in English and a more internationalized faculty, scholarships have been key in the rise in foreign numbers, with the central and local governments doling out more than $134 million in aid to more than 22,000 international students, an increase of more than 22 per cent of students who received aid in 2009, according to the People’s Daily, a government newspaper.
Beijing is actively working with the U.S. to increase the presence of Americans on Chinese campuses. During his visit to China in 2009, President Barack Obama announced a four-year plan that would see more than 100,000 students studying in China. Since Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Washington last year, first lady Michelle Obama has begun urging Americans to be a part of the administration’s 100,000 Strong Initiative by studying in China. Speaking at Howard University in Washington D.C. in January, she said that overseas education was not a luxury of the rich and funding is available – at home and in China – to make it happen.
With China on the move to attract international students, where does this leave Canada, which also hopes to see a more international presence on its campuses? Last fall, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the premiers of Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan, and several university presidents visited India to promote post-secondary education in Canada in an effort to increase enrolment.
“I wouldn’t necessarily see China as a threat to Canada,” says Brian White, a senior policy analyst at the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. “It’s something to monitor because there is a growing pool of international students, and in Canada we’re focused on increasing our profile to ensure that we’re attracting the best and the brightest.”
Canada’s main competitors, says White, who recently returned from a trip to China to promote Canada as a top education destination, are other English-speaking countries, including the U.S. the UK and Australia.
“We’re competing for the same type of international student who is looking for – yes, the quality of education – but also coming to do their studies in an English language institution.”
According to the AUCC, international students contribute $6.5 billion to Canada’s economy annually, with 77,000 full-time and 10,000 part-time foreign students studying here. That rounds out to nearly 18 per cent of the graduate body and seven per cent of the undergraduate population. China heads the pack with 15,000 students followed by the U.S. with 7,400, France 6,900, India 2,800 and South Korea at 2,600.
But while China may seem like a destination of choice to study Mandarin, does it have the appeal to draw degree-seeking students from rich Western nations?
Alan Quigley, principal of London International Academy in London, Ontario, an international high school largely catering to students from Hong Kong and China who wish to enrol in a Canadian university, says anyone thinking about obtaining a degree in China should think about where they hope it will lead.
“First of all, I would ask a lot of questions of the student,” says Quigley, including what the student intends to study and why China would be a top choice to do so.
White isn’t so sure Western students see China as a viable education option to pursue a degree. “That is in my estimation still a big leap.” Although he encourages Canadians to study abroad, he advises doing so for a term or two in China with a school that is “affiliated with a Canadian university.”
Zukernik said he would have no problem pursuing a degree on the mainland – as opposed to Hong Kong, with its British and American influences – because he plans on remaining in China for the foreseeable future and perhaps for the rest of his life.
Still, he cautions western students thinking about pursuing a degree on the mainland.
“I think there’s some development to be made,” he said, adding that a degree from a Chinese university could be shunned by employers back home.
While he praises the teaching style of his professors in Hong Kong, he has reservations about the educational methods on the mainland.
“We have to memorize stuff and throw it back on the exam. There aren’t so many open ended questions.”
Despite the different teaching style, White applauds China’s plans to internationalize its campuses.
“Everything about China is ambitious. China is large scale. It’s such a massive country and economy and I think those are laudable goals in the sense of taking international education as a main principle.”
