Colleges call on students to stay on in education

Many universities nationwide are encouraging undergraduate students to prepare for postgraduate exams as early as possible, as extra academic degrees are becoming a requirement to boost their competitiveness in the tough job market.

Experts said such moves are also part of their efforts to boost universities' employment record, as in China, enrolling to postgraduate studies also constitutes finding jobs for undergraduate students. The universities need high employment numbers for evaluation from education authorities and student enrollment.

Postgraduate studies may not be suitable for all students, they added. Only those who are enthusiastic about academic research should choose to further their studies.

Taishan University in Shandong province is one such institution that encourages its schools and departments to boost students' passion for the exam.

The vice-president of the university, Wei Xinjiang, said that the university campus will facilitate various events for postgraduate studies. Departments and schools will also offer effective and tailor-made guidance for students to choose their major and university for master's education, Wei added.

Xu Peilin, an official at the School of Marxism at Taizhou University in Zhejiang province, said every student should value the chance of taking the postgraduate exam and view it as an important part of their undergraduate studies.

Xu said students should set a goal, make plans and take action as soon as possible. The school will offer all-round support for students to take the exam, he added.

The enthusiasm of universities and students to pursue postgraduate studies comes amid the intense pressure in the job market and the ever-increasing number of college graduates in the country. The number of college graduates is expected to reach a new record of 11.79 million this year and that of applicants for the national postgraduate entrance exam to reach 4.38 million, according to the Ministry of Education.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate of young people aged between 16 and 24, excluding students, stood at 18.8 percent in August, setting a nine-month record, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Headlines that claimed the number of postgraduate students is exceeding that of the undergraduates in some famous universities have ignited a fierce debate online about whether a good academic background is becoming less useful in finding better jobs.

According to China Newsweek, there are 28 top universities with more postgraduate students than undergraduate ones.

A teacher surnamed Liang at a university in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, said almost all universities are encouraging their undergraduate students to pursue postgraduate degrees.

As a teacher in material sciences, Liang said the number of graduates from the major has been "really big "and the direct impact of economic headwinds means that some of them cannot get a job, weighing down on the employment rate of the university.

"If a university has a low employment rate, education authorities will cut its enrollment quota, parents and students will be reluctant to apply to the school and it cannot get high scores in teaching evaluation from education authorities," he said, adding that some 40 percent of undergraduate students on the campus have chosen to take the exam.

Wu Peng, dean of the Jiangsu University Overseas Education College, attributes such a phenomenon to the encouragement of universities and students' low expectations of the job market.

For research-oriented universities, they should encourage undergraduate students to continue their studies, but for vocational universities, it is not practical and goes against the purpose of vocational education to encourage students to take the exam, Wu said.

"I firmly oppose encouraging students to pursue postgraduate studies just to avoid entering the job market or increase the employment rate of the university. Postgraduate studies are for realizing academic ideals and goals, not for burnishing the job performance of university administrators."