Society

Chinese students delay study plans in Japan

By Li Xinzhu (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-25 08:14

The chair at a counseling desk offering information about studying in Japan remains empty in an international education exhibition tour in Shanghai on March 18. [Provided to China Daily]

SHANGHAI - Many Chinese students are putting their overseas study plans on hold to avoid possible radioactive contamination from the recent nuclear emergency in Japan.

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"I'm not clear about the consequences of Japan's radioactive contamination so I'm considering other options at the moment," said 22-year-old Xu Lu, a senior year student of mathematics at Peking University, who received an enrollment notice from the University of Tokyo before the emergency.

"My tutor at the University of Tokyo is at the top of the field," he said. "I'll definitely choose Japan if there's no nuclear emergency."

Xu said that he is not sure about the long-term effects of radioactive contamination around Tokyo.

"I'm collecting information from my friends in Japan as well as from the media," he said. "I have several friends who recently came back from Japan, but they haven't decided whether to go back again or stay in China."

During the 16th China International Education Exhibition Tour in Shanghai on March 19, several universities in Tokyo stated they were far from the earthquake-stricken areas, local media reported.

They hoped to reduce the anxiety and attract more Chinese students to study in Japan.

Zhang Jiyao, a 27-year-old Shanghai native who just finished his studies at Senshu University in Japan, chose to return to Shanghai immediately after the graduation ceremony.

"My intention was to stay there for another half-year, looking for jobs," he said, "However, considering the recent nuclear emergencies, I don't feel comfortable staying there at this moment."

Zhang said lots of his friends who had not yet finished their studies were brought home by their parents after the emergency.

"A new semester starts in April, but lots of students still chose to go back to China in mid March," he said. "A lack of electricity in certain areas and the suspended rail transportation caused lots of inconveniences of daily life."

"We'll just wait and see what happens next and decide whether to go or stay," he said.

Shen Junyao, a senior consultant at China SOOS, a Shanghai-based overseas education agency, told China Daily that the number of overseas students to Japan will not been affected much after the earthquake.

"Lots of students and their parents are worried about the current situation in Japan so we suggest they wait and see," she said.

"But Japan is the only country that uses Japanese, and considering its economic status, it still has a huge attraction to Chinese students compared to Korea and Singapore."

Many universities in Japan have postponed the date of new semesters in April in order to ease students' anxieties, said a consultant surnamed Zuo at CIIC Shanghai, an overseas education agency. She also mentioned that the new semester in October appears unaffected.

"We still receive lots of enquiries every day," she said.