中国研究生报考人数10年来首次下降

2008年全国硕士研究生入学考试结束，来自教育部的消息称，今年全国共有120万人报考研究生，比去年减少8.2万人，首次出现了全国范围内的下降。

China’s national postgraduate entrance exam began on Saturday with 1.2 million registered* examinees*, 6.3 percent down from 2007 and the first drop in almost a decade.

The number of people registering to take the exam soared from 319,000 in 1999 to 1.28 million last year, an average annual increase of 17.2 percent.

Insiders attributed* the fall to a changing employment market*, the reduced quality of postgraduate education and increasing costs of postgraduate courses.

China began expanding university enrollment* in 1999 and the number of college graduates reached record highs for years. This led to tough competition for employment. This year’s output is expected to be 5.5 million graduates.

“I took graduate courses mostly because it would be easier to find a job with a higher diploma,” said Zeng Minghua who received a master’s degree in 2001.

However, a higher degree does not always get the jobs expected.

A Beijing University Public Policy Institute report issued last month said 66.66 percent of graduates with a master’s degree found jobs in July last year. This was only slightly higher than the 65.52 percent for those with a bachelor’s degree.

The stereotype* that higher education brings more promising career prospects is also being challenged by the changing attitudes of employers.

“We are looking for employees who are worth the pay,” said Zhang Changwu who runs a company in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

“If a graduate and a postgraduate have similar skills and experience, we will pick the former for the sake of a lower salary,” Zhang said.

The whole society, including employers, are more rational* towards degree and diploma holders and many are inclined* to take into account skill and experience.

Others also question the quality of graduate courses at some universities.

Professor Qian Zongfan of Guangxi Normal University reasoned that while the number of graduate students had increased, the number of teachers had not. “Obviously, students will not receive as good training as before. A tutor might have 20 to 30 students now, compared with two or three 10 years ago,” he said. (SD-Agencies)