Overseas: Sino-British educational cooperation is booming, and joint vocational education has become a bright spot.

20 12 March 0 1, liuxue86.com reports.

20 1 1 At the end of the year, Yuan Guiren, Minister of Education of China, signed the Sino-British Education Partnership Action Plan with Goff, the British Minister of Education, during his visit to the UK. Around this time, the news of "twinning" and "marriage" between Chinese and British universities frequently occurred: Chengdu University of Technology and EdgeHillUniversity began to prepare for the joint project of tourism management; Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and Lancaster University signed a cooperation agreement; The University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom announced the establishment of a new undergraduate business administration major in the Sino-British International College of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. For a time, Sino-British educational cooperation was particularly frequent and enthusiastic.

Who is better to run a school in cooperation?

According to UK-Chinese Times, there are many forms of Sino-British cooperation in running schools, which can be roughly divided into two types: Sino-British cooperation in running schools, that is, combining the strengths of two institutions to form a new school, such as Xi 'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou, China, which is jointly organized by Liverpool University and Xi 'an Jiaotong University. Sino-British cooperation in running a school means that two universities cooperate to train students in some professional projects, but do not set up new educational institutions. For example, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Northumbria University in the United Kingdom have set up a "3+ 1" dual-degree program in many majors (that is, undergraduates can study in China for three years and study in the UK for one year in the fourth year, and they can get degrees from both Chinese and English universities after graduation).

In terms of Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools, British-Chinese cooperation is at the forefront. In 2003, the University of Nottingham and Zhejiang Wan Li Education Group established the University of Nottingham Ningbo Branch in China, enabling China students to enjoy British higher education without going abroad.

Professor Yao is the Dean of the Institute of Contemporary China Studies at Nottingham University. He told UK-Chinese Times that, as far as he knew, under the background of British education industrialization, British universities cooperated with China, which has a high demand for studying abroad, on the one hand to improve their international reputation and influence, and on the other hand to create employment opportunities for British natives. At the same time, for families with limited financial ability, it is more economical for children to receive advanced education from foreign universities in China than to study abroad.

20 1 1 In March, nyu shanghai, the achievement of Sino-US cooperation in running schools, laid the foundation stone in Lujiazui, Shanghai. Yu Lizhong, president of the school, believes that Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools can enable China to absorb foreign high-quality educational resources and promote the educational reform in China. National League? Zhang Yi of the International Students Office of the National University of Singapore holds the same view. She believes that cooperative education is an incentive for China University to learn from foreign universities and improve its education level. In the long run, the purpose of China's active participation in cooperative education is to gather global talents like the United States.

Running a school for money?

However, with the increasing number and forms of Sino-foreign joint education in recent years, chaos has also appeared: some non-governmental cooperative education institutions have not been certified by the Ministry of Education and enrolled students illegally, resulting in "water injection" in teaching quality and academic qualifications; Some foreign low-level universities went to China to carry out cooperation projects and award diplomas with low gold content, which cost China students and parents time and money, but gained little. These chaos have attracted the attention of students and parents. Xiong Bingqi, an educational scholar, even called on the public to be alert to the gray area of cooperative education and prevent foreign universities from staking for money.

Professor Yao said that, as far as he knows, the University of Nottingham established its Ningbo branch in China, not to make money, and in fact, it didn't make any money. The employment rate of students in this school reaches 100% within six months after graduation. Among the graduates, 70% choose to pursue further studies and 30% choose employment.

Zhangyan believes that most of the students who came to the UK through the "3+ 1" or "2+2" program chose to continue their studies in the UK, which actually provided more students for British universities. However, she doesn't think that the purpose of British university cooperation in running schools is to make money. She said: "Now universities all over the world are using various policies to attract international students and choose the best people to work for their research projects. This is a talent strategy. " However, she also regretted that due to the current tight immigration policy of the government, the effect of attracting talents from all over the world in Britain may be greatly reduced.

Regarding some problems in Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools, Yoshikazu Katō, a popular columnist and celebrity, told UK-Chinese Times: "The teaching quality of some projects cannot be guaranteed, or students are recruited by informal means to make up for the funding problem. I've heard a lot, too. In this regard, firstly, regulators and the media should supervise and criticize; In addition, if these projects are really low-level and low-quality, they will be eliminated sooner or later, which is a process. However, the trend of Sino-foreign joint education should not stop. "

Generally speaking, Yoshikazu Katō supports the cooperation between Chinese and foreign universities. He said: "In the early days of reform and opening up, young people at that time had no choice to go abroad. Now this kind of cooperation has given young people in China more choices and freedom ... The biggest advantage of Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools is that China people and foreigners have more exchanges and provide a bridge for mutual understanding and communication. "

Studying X+X, or applying for studying abroad by yourself?

Zhang Wenxian, who just graduated this year, came to the UK for the fourth year through the 3+ 1 dual-degree program of Guangdong Institute of Petrochemical Technology and Northampton University. He thinks this project is very good, "to give young people the opportunity to experience abroad and broaden their horizons."

CEOPhilipHao of Uvic told UK-Chinese Times that "2+2" students have been studying in Britain for one year longer than "3+ 1" students, and "2+2" students have shown higher comprehensive quality under the British education evaluation system, so "2+2" double-degree students from China are more favored by British schools in recent years.

In this regard, Zhang Wei of NUS thinks that whether it is "2+2" or "3+ 1", domestic schools should give students more training in British educational concepts and oral English before going abroad. "It is unrealistic to assume that students can adapt to British education and integrate into local culture as soon as they come to Britain," Zhang Wei warned.

PhilipHao also revealed that compared with cooperative education programs, it is more popular for China students to study abroad directly for undergraduate or master's degree. Wang Xiaobao, a senior majoring in administration in Tianjin University, refused the recommendation of the university to participate in the cooperative graduate program between our university and foreign universities, on the grounds that the professional choice provided by the cooperative foreign universities was not ideal and the tuition fee was not much lower. If you want to go abroad for further study, you might as well apply directly to the ideal university.

Mr. Zhang, the student's parents, said that her daughter is currently a freshman in Hubei and wants her to study in the UK after graduation. He said, "I'm not going to let her participate in those cooperation projects in China. If you apply yourself, you can choose more majors and schools, and there is no shortage of money at home. "

Exchange program is another popular way of educational cooperation. Li, a graduate student of Fudan University, went to the University of East Finland for a half-year exchange during his graduate studies. Although she is an economics major, she listened to different professional subjects and exchanged studies with local classmates in the past six months, so she gained a lot in the past six months.

However, Li Xiaojun, who has worked in the School of Architecture of Cardiff University for more than a year, is not optimistic about this exchange program. She told reporters that from her contact with exchange students around her, due to the loose management of exchange students by British "receiving" institutions, a considerable number of students are in a state of "herding sheep" and have not concentrated on their studies. Only some students with strong self-discipline will really benefit.

Would you like to go abroad to study in a foreign vocational school?

It is worth noting that the government of China has found that there is a lack of vocational education in the education system of China. In the educational cooperation agreement reached between China and Britain at the end of 20 1 1, in addition to the cooperation between universities, the cooperation between Chinese and British higher vocational colleges has also been included in the scope of educational cooperation. At the Sino-British University Cooperation Summit Forum in June 5438+ 10 last year, Yuan Guiren pointed out: "Now China's economy is trying to get rid of its dependence on cheap labor, and we need to rethink the development of vocational education. For China, the British apprenticeship education is a successful model worth learning. "

20111February, the Memorandum of Understanding on Sino-British Vocational Education Cooperation was implemented at the level of the two governments. Around this time, the alliance of Chongqing Vocational College in Wales was established, and Wales and Chongqing will cooperate to train technical talents in language training, tourism, management, art design, new energy, creative industries and other courses. Almost at the same time, Milton Keynes College, a British higher vocational college, has reached a cooperation intention with Nanjing Preschool Teachers College in preschool education, tourism, art design and other aspects, preparing to train full-time talents.

Indeed, according to the "China Talent Survey Report" of China Institute of Personnel Science, there is a shortage of high-skilled talents in China at present, and there is a fault in senior technicians. Professor Yao pointed out that there are several reasons for this phenomenon: first, since the expansion of colleges and universities in China in 1999, it has become easier to go to college, and the number of students in vocational colleges has dropped sharply; Second, the upgrading of domestic colleges and universities has become a trend, with junior colleges upgraded to undergraduate courses and two colleges upgraded to one, resulting in a decrease in the number of vocational colleges; Third, China parents' long-standing concept of attaching importance to academic qualifications over technology has influenced their children to go to university instead of full-time colleges after middle school.

Zhang Qiu is very excited about the cooperation between China and Britain in vocational education. She thought the decision was "far-sighted". "Now is the demand market. There are too many college students in China, and their goals are not strong. Unlike many vocational colleges in Britain, not only high school graduates can go, but also vocational schools for adults to choose from. In Britain, vocational training is lifelong. " Sino-British vocational education cooperation "can improve China's competitiveness", so she is very optimistic about the potential of this piece.

However, due to the long-standing concept of attaching importance to academic qualifications over technology in China society, it may be difficult for parents to send their children abroad to study specialized skills instead of degree education in the short term. PhilipHao said that his Uvic study abroad agency has never been to an application case of studying in a British higher vocational college. In this regard, Zhang Wei believes that this requires government support.

In addition to institutional cooperation, some British universities have begun to provide training courses for China internship students in the UK to help them integrate into the local area. Wu Yiyong, a senior official of the International Department of Brunel University, told UK-Chinese Times that since 2008, the university has been supporting the "Sino-British College Student Work Internship Program" launched by Britain and China, preparing two-week training for new interns in China to help them understand the cultural differences between China and the West, British culture, life and business knowledge. Coventry University and middlesex University also offer similar courses. These undoubtedly paved the way for the employability of college students in China under the background of globalization.

On February 18, Professor Lan Xue, Dean of School of Public Administration, Tsinghua University, said at the LSE China Development Forum: "The education reform in China has started, and small changes have taken place in many places. The change of the whole system is bigger than everyone thinks. " The cooperation between China and Britain in vocational education may be a reflection of the gradual reform of the education system by the state.

Sino-British educational cooperation is booming, and vocational education is the highlight-China Europe News Source: (www.liuxue86.com)