By: Jay (a different one)

Jay (a different one) — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:13:48 +0000

I think a large part of the problem is the lack of skills, low quality of education, multiplied by large numbers (to make it apparently more newsworthy than other countries that have similar issues).
This view is based partly on what I see from job applicants, most of whom can barely state their name, let alone do/remember anything useful, despite ‘good’ grades from ‘good’ universities. Sure, shy, blah blah blah. But if you write on your CV that you have expert level English for example, then I’d expect just a little more then “hello”, same for other subjects.
My niece is about to graduate from college and has no clue what she’s actually studied and what kind of job that might possibly qualify her for. Worse yet, neither do her teachers. Neither heard of aptitude tests, job-match tests, just study some vague subject, and then what…?
While colleges have some sort of entry barrier (which is good) in the form of requiring a certain score from middle-school exams, this can apparently be bypassed with cash payments, e.g. need 550 points to get into college, or 500 points plus 30000 RMB. So, there’s an extra in-flux of dumb ‘rich’ kids.
Most demoralizing was teaching a master-class at the local university. Out of a class of 60, 30 were asleep throughout the entire course, 20 were busy texting, 10 paid attention, of which half ‘got it’ and participated. The homework assignments always came back copied 55 times word for word, error for error, smudge for smudge. Come exam time, I got several emails from students who admitted they slept through the whole thing, but could I give them a good score anyway, because they really wanted one. Oh please…!
Multiply this by a few million. Meanwhile, we have vacancies that we just can’t fill no matter what we try (hiring bonus etc).

Comments on: China’s Recent Graduate Unemployment Problem

By: Jay (a different one)