Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Chen Jin began to contemplate the students choosing to study abroad, making his forehead crease in a frown but, knowing the data as he did, there must be a winnable solution.
According to the latest statistics by the Department of Education, there had been an increase in the number of students from the Z country who had chosen to study abroad in recent years. The number had exceeded 600,000 for the first time in 20X7, and in 20X0 the number had hit more than 750,000 study-abroad students. The number was expected to exceed 800,000 in the future. This trend had been ongoing for more than 10 years, and they had maintained their status as the world’s largest source of international students.
As to whether or not these students were actually learning anything by studying overseas, Chen Jin did not want to cast a negative light on all of them. The hard-working ones would definitely gain something from their studies abroad. On the other hand, there were those who simply wanted to pass their days in mediocrity and with a veneer of respectability, all for the sake of getting an overseas certificate. So, of course, there were the good ones and the bad ones.
With the Z country’s increasing economic strength, the overall strength of the nation continued to approach the superpower status of Merica. Among the students studying abroad, about 90% would choose to return to their homeland. They had become more optimistic about the future of the Z country and felt that they would have more opportunities by returning home. The country had no need to worry about brain drain.
Now, however, the question had become, Is there a need to study abroad? Chen Jin did have an informed opinion regarding this topic.
The number of students abroad approaching 800,000 was substantial. This was 10% of third-year senior high schoolers. This meant that about 10% of the student body would go overseas every year.
With such a huge quantity of students having enrolled in various foreign universities, they were a significant income source for those schools. Sometimes, they would make up as much as 30%, 40%, or even 50% of the student body on those foreign campuses.
Foreign colleges and universities charged high tuition fees to fill their coffers. The average annual expenditure of international students from the Z country was 300,000 RMB or more.
That was a totally different situation than domestic schools. The foreign schools wanted to earn a profit, especially from the Z country’s students. The tuition fees, textbook costs, and accommodation costs that they paid far exceeded those of the local students. Hence, it has become the case that the money from the Z country’s students has been supporting the local students.
On top of this, the treatment of the foreign nations toward the Z country’s students has typically been one of discrimination. Every year, news reports have documented the large numbers of Z country students who have been beaten up, robbed, raped, and murdered and how the local police have been frequently ineffective. Foreign media had often reported negative news about the Z country’s students dominating their campuses and taking all their resources, thus spreading the idea that the Z country was a threat, as well as strong anti–Z country sentiment. Overall, the foreign schools liked the money from the Z country students, but they didn’t like the Z country’s students themselves.
Moreover, many of the students weren’t even enrolled in a good university. In fact, a significant portion were enrolled in shady, unknown schools where they wouldn’t learn anything. They would get a certificate of no academic value but, because it’s an overseas qualification, it will imply their education had some kind of superficial sophistication, not something worth such a huge price.
Finally, an overseas education history was no longer as valuable as it once had been. Many companies had offered starting salaries of only $3,000 to $4,000 to returning graduates, which they had found unacceptable. But because their society focuses more on real abilities than qualifications, certificates were only a point of reference. Their real abilities when it came to the workplace may only really be worth $3,000 to $4,000.
Chen Jin simply could not wrap his mind around this. It was very clear that studying abroad conferred no real advantages to the students, making him wonder why so many parents insisted on pushing their children to an unfamiliar foreign country even when the price of doing so was so high. All to get a qualification that was worthless beyond its superficial veneer of sophistication?
Was the quality of education in foreign countries really better than that in the Z country?
Alternatively, some may want to have a better life overseas. By studying abroad, it would be easier for them to find a good job in the country where they had studied and to emigrate there. Regardless, an overwhelming majority of the students abroad did choose to return. However, due to the large numbers of foreign educated workers in society, their value had dropped significantly, and they realized that the gains were not worth the losses.
So, was it really necessary to study abroad?
Chen Jin did not want to say things like “studying abroad is unnecessary,” which would only cause huge debates. He simply thought that there was no point to the endeavor when the students were going abroad to study in sketchy colleges, all the while tolerating hostile environments just to get a useless certificate and return back to the Z country for a job that only paid them a salary of $3,000 to $4,000. It made no sense to go abroad for their studies.
Generally speaking, knowledge is the same everywhere. For example, for subjects like mathematics, physics, and chemistry, students would be learning the same formulae and theories no matter which country they studied in. They wouldn’t be learning a more advanced formula or theory just because they were studying in a more developed country. The knowledge learned on a foreign campus is no more advanced than that learned on a domestic campus.
Moreover, Merica and other Western countries had closed their doors to highly sophisticated fields in the universities. The students from the Z country were banned from participating in these fields where they could have actually learned highly applicable professional technical skills. When it came to these fields of real value, even ordinary academic exchanges were prohibited. By using legal entrapment, the foreign governments had even arrested a number of the Z country scientists and sent them to prison.
The technologies that they were guarding with their lives were the last of what they had in their hidden repertoire. The Z country would soon experience a breakthrough and be lauded for their technological advances that they’d kept hidden. In these many years, they had never let their guard down. The technological breakthroughs that they’d achieved were mostly from their own efforts.
Hence the root of the problem remained that their race was still not confident in their own abilities. In the past, the foreign countries had been more advanced than them in every way. It was a wise move then to have sent their students abroad to learn more advanced technologies so they could transfer this knowledge back to their own country. Now that they were similarly developed and starting to surpass other countries in many fields, the role of local talent was far greater than the contribution of returning talent. However, there were still so many students who went abroad to study every year. They were giving money away to others and wasting precious time. This was really unnecessary.
With just a Little Star learning machine, they had wholly surpassed the Western countries in terms of their basic education systems. Nearly 800,000 students were going abroad to study every year. This was a shocking number. Even reducing it by half would not be enough! Reducing the number until it reached 80,000 students per year, which was a tenth of the current value, would be more acceptable.
Chen Jin was ready to write his proposal to the Department of Education, in which he suggested limiting the number of students going abroad to study.
“There is no need for the junior high school graduates to study abroad. The standard of many senior high schools in the developed countries is only equivalent to the third year of our junior high schools or the first year of our senior high schools. Studying abroad is purely a waste of time. It is better to remain in the country and master a greater range and depth of knowledge.
“A portion of senior high school graduates should be allowed to study abroad but not at a no-name university! They should try to get into a top university with a good reputation. It is better to learn something than to learn nothing.”
As for the overseas postgraduate students, doctoral students, and exchange students, Chen Jin did not want to interfere in a presumptuous manner or give rash criticisms. This was a freedom given to the university students, who could be trusted to use their own judgment and gain practical worldly experiences for a limited time.
In short, he hoped that the junior and senior high school graduates would stop going abroad in swarms with no real reflection.
…
When the Department of Education received Chen Jin’s proposal, Department Chief Yuan and other personnel held a meeting where they carefully discussed the issue in detail. They reached a consensus in that same meeting: They had to control and reduce the number of students going abroad to study. Department Chief Yuan made the announcement.
“I’ve consulted with all top officials, and they have given the following directives. From this year onward, we will not approve any junior high school graduates to go abroad for studies. Unless the parents and the student give up their citizenship and choose to emigrate, we will not give our approval. This is our principle.
“We will exclude all disreputable universities in the applications of high school graduates enrolling in foreign universities and persuade them to give up studying at useless campuses! Security alerts will be issued. Australia, Canada, and Sweden will be entered on the list ‘High-Risk Countries for Students Studying Abroad.’ We will not approve any students applying to study abroad in these countries, as the security in these regions has been terrible and students from the Z country have been repeatedly attacked and injured in these countries. They are no longer suitable for studying abroad.
“If parents refuse to pay heed to these dangers and insist that their children must study abroad, then they will be required to relinquish their Z country citizenship.
“Our goal is to reduce the number of students going abroad for their studies this year to less than 500,000. We plan to further reduce the number to less than 300,000 in the future.
“In addition, the students who choose to give up their citizenship to study abroad must return their learning machines. The Department of Education will redeem the learning machines at their original price. The device is a strategic item that cannot fall into the hands of foreigners.”
Rumble rumble rumble!
After the Department of Education announced their decision, the media and public went into a frenzy.