Insightperspectives January 1, 2016 v3

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university students never study abroad, but particularly
among higher middle class parents, who have the
economic ability to offer their child a foreign education,
there is a growing feeling that something is
fundamentally wrong in Chinese schools, even though
students perform brilliantly in PISA tests.
A Hurun Report from 2014 found that rich Chinese
investors quoted the quality of education as their top
reason for emigrating (21 per cent), closely followed by
environmental pollution (20%), and food safety (19%).
"[t]he average age at which
China’s millionaires send their children abroad to study
is 18. Among the children of the super-rich, the average
is lower, at just 16 years of age."
The discontent of the super-rich is only the tip of the
iceberg. For decades experts, teachers, and parents
have criticized the highly competitive Chinese school
system for putting too much pressure on the students,
for relying on rote learning, for killing children's
creativity, and even for "stealing their childhood", as it
is often expressed. Students who are sent abroad at a
younger age will be under less pressure from the
Chinese national university entrance exam, the
notorious gaokao that is the driver behind practically all
teaching activities in the Chinese education system.
This gives parents more freedom to place their children
in those alternative schools and kindergartens that are
no
Middle class parents' enthusiasm for Western, liberal
education – either in China or abroad – does not only
grow out of their concern for the children's well-being.
They also believe that creativity, curiosity, and an
independent and explorative mindset will be crucial in
the future job market as China is moving toward the
high end of the value-added chain. So paying the high
tuition fees of foreign universities is primarily seen as
an investment in the family's future. Partly for this
reason, several foreign actors have discovered the
economic and academic potential in being present in
the field of higher education inside China itself.
Prominent examples of different models are the
the
in Shanghai, and
the in
Beijing.
Will they come back?
Right from the first students were sent out in 1978, the
Chinese government has been concerned about
whether they would ever return after graduation.