Report of Chinese Media Coverage

June, 2011

Prepared by AEI China

Part I - General Summary

A total of 127 news articles were collected in June, of which 48 articles were related to Australia education.

Early in June, we saw both positive and negative coverage in response to the figures released in the AEI Research Snapshot regarding the revenue from Australian international education in 2010. We also saw coverage of the results of a survey carried out by Australian National Union of Students on sexual harassment.  

Compared to last month, in June we saw a decrease in the volume of coverage on the negative implications of the UK visa policy changes. There was news about the pre-departure seminars organized by the British Council. Regarding the recent announcement of New Zealand immigration policy changes, the coverage was found to be mostly positive.

Relevant news for China included data on employment rates for college graduates, as well as the new registration system for the overseas academic qualifications at the undergraduate level and above that were obtained through Sino-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools.

Mid to late June saw the coverage in the collapse of two private Australian colleges.  Because of the sensitivity of this issue, we have included a summary of the coverage received in this media report.

Part II - Brief summary on each key issue

Australia

In June we provided information about the establishment of TEQSA during the agent workshop and by posting relevant information on AEI China Sina Weibo.  The establishment of TEQSA was widely reported by media outlets. Apart from the factual reports explaining TEQSA’s role as a new national regulatory and quality assurance agency for higher education, some comments said that a national regulator would ensure the standards of the education quality delivered in all states and territories.

• Australia is Introducing a New Regulator for Education

澳大利亚将启用新教育监管机构

http://www.mceie.com/show.asp?id=1314

Jennifer Tyrell, Counsellor of Education of AEI China was invited to give a speech on the Australian Vocational Training at the 8^th Beijing International Education EXPO, which was held late in June. Her speech was well received by the audience.

• Jennifer Tyrell: Australia Vocational Training focus on skills development

陶婕菲：澳大利亚职业教育以能力为培训为基础

http://goabroad.sohu.com/20110616/n310366691.shtml

The time following the annual Chinese National College Entrance was busy for those high school graduates who decided to study aboard to choose their destinations. In the first two weeks of June a fair amount of media coverage was given to the seminars and exhibitions organized by the education agents.  There was also coverage generated by the education agents to promote studying in Australia, saying that many Australian universities recognized the Chinese college entrance exam(known as Gaokao) results, which makes studying in these universities a time–saving choice for the students.

• Apply first  class Australian Universities with Chinese university entrance exam results

              凭国内高考成绩 申请澳洲一流名校

              http://goabroad.sohu.com/20110609/n309755515.shtml

Early in June the Minister for Tertiary Education Chris Evans published a media release to welcome the AEI Research Snapshot, which showed that the international education income reached $18.3 billion in 2010, only marginally down from the peak in 2009. The media release received both positive and negative interpretations.  An article quoted the Australia based Chinese-language media, saying that it is a fact that the Australian international education sector has stopped growing. It said that many people were worrying about the possible sharp decline in the international education industry, and these figures showed the worries might come true.

• Australian international education industry has stop growing, a sharp decline would come 

澳国际教育停止增长 留学市场大滑坡将成事实

               http://edu.china.com.cn/2011-06/06/content_22720475.htm

There were also positive interpretations in response to the AEI research and Minister Chris Evans’s press release. Again quoting the Australia based Chinese-language media; the report said the Minister for Tertiary Education Chris Evans considered the figures satisfactory. The fact that Australian international education sector is still strong overall was highlighted in the title, and the international enrolments from China in Australian universities were still more than that from any other nation.

• Australian international education sector still strong, number of students from India declined, majority of the income came from China.

澳留学业总体收入强劲 印度市场下滑中国花销最大

http://www.chinanews.com/lxsh/2011/06-02/3084531.shtml

The Australian National Union of Students recently released the results of their Talk About It survey on female university students’ experiences of sexual harassment. The survey results showed that a very high percentage of female university students have experienced sexual assault and harassment. Reprinted from a Singapore news media, a news article about the result of the survey was widely reprinted by Chinese media outlets, over 200 times.  The article was a factual report based on the statistics from the survey, without commenting on the safety issues on campuses. Negative comments were found in the online discussion forums. There were also many people had doubts about the credibility of the survey results.

• Survey shows one out of six Australian female students have encountered rape

调查显示澳大利亚六分一女生曾遭强奸

               http://www.chinanews.com/gj/2011/06-11/3104625.shtml

In June 24, The Australian reported the collapse of two private colleges: the Perth Institute Western Australia and Kelly Colleges in Brisbane. The article was translated and reprinted by an Australia based Chinese language media Ausdaily. The translation was then again reprinted by Chinese media outlets under different titles, and over 200 reprints where found online. Generally speaking no biased negative words were used in the translation. Some Chinese articles commented on the current situation of the Australian education industry in the title, saying the industry was not optimistic. The articles reported that hundreds of students have to be transferred to other schools. The Australian Council for Private Education and Training was looking for new corresponding courses for the students.  The reports did not mention anything specifically about Chinese students.

• Another Two Australian Private School Closed Down, Hundreds of Students Could not Continue Their Study, Worries Over the International Education Industry 

               澳洲又有2所私校倒闭 数百学生失学留学产业堪忧

               http://edu.cyol.com/content/2011-06/27/content_4577920.htm

No relevant discussions were found from the online forums for overseas Chinese and potential overseas students, such as Ozchinese, Aobo and Tigtag.  On Sina weibo, a few posts reported these closures. The posts were mainly neutral. Some commented that the colleges offering English and vocational course were having a hard time, and the causes include the strong Australian dollar and the immigration policy changes.

China

Recently the State Council of the PRC issued Opinions on Increasing the Education Investment. It gave five suggestions on how to achieve the goal of making the Education Investment Fund account for 4% of the GDP in the year 2012:

The State Council of PRC’s opinions on Increasing the Education Investment.

国务院关于进一步加大财政教育投入的意见http://www.moe.gov.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/moe/moe_1778/201107/121857.html

As studying aboard remain a hot trend, we also saw heavy coverage of the new International courses introduced by some local key senior high schools. It’s reported that apart from the regular classes, more key senior high schools are opening international classes to serve the students who plan to go overseas after graduation. Some of these are joint programs. The curriculum of these International Classes was developed to address the English skills.

·         More students chose to go aboard, key senior high schools introduced International Classes

出国留学持续升温 引发重点高中开设国际课程http://world.jyb.cn/cglx/201106/t20110628_439577.html

Lately heavy media attention has been paid to the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) or "Gaokao", which took place early in June.  As reported about 9.33 million students sat the annual National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) or "Gaokao" on June 7 and 8 this year. This number was 240,000 less than last year's figure and it has been decreasing for 3 consecutive years. More than 72.3 percent of this year's applications will be accepted to the college of their choice, an increase of 4 percent over last year.

• 9.33 million students registered for Gaokao, admission rate 72.3%

2011年全国高考报名人数933万 录取率72.3%

http://edu.sina.com.cn/gaokao/2011-06-03/1636298559.shtml

In order to better supervise the operation of approved JV institutes/programs, starting from September this year, the Ministry of Education will run a registration system for the overseas academic qualifications at the undergraduate level and above gained through Sino-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools. The JV Program Registration System is a database of students' information from the approved JV institutes/programs. The Registration System is based on www.jsj.edu.cn. Students can access the Registration System to check the information of the overseas academic qualifications by providing their names and IDs.

When CSCSE provide the service of issuing the Certificate of Overseas Academic Credential Evaluation, they will need to check the student's information on the Registration System first. CSCSE will decline to issue the Certificate if the student's information is not registered on the System. Although applying for CSCSE Certificate is optional, registration on the MoE's JV Program Registration System is compulsory for all approved JV institutes/programs.

AEI Beijing will prepare a separate market update for this new policy once the details are finalised.

• Ministry of Education will run a registration system for the overseas academic qualifications gained through Sino-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools

教育部将对中外合作办学学生获得的境外文凭实行认证注册制度http://www.jsj.edu.cn/index.php/default/news/index/352

On 8 June 2011, the State Council called for more fiscal spending on education and better support to ensure the healthy development of the country's logistics industry. Local authorities should achieve the required growth in educational expenditures, and growth in educational spending should be significantly higher than that of the regular revenues, according to a statement issued after a State Council meeting presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao. The government is aiming to increase educational spending to 4 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) by 2012. In 2010, China's financial expenditure on education accounted for 17.6 percent of the public fiscal revenue. The State Council urged local governments to further increase educational expenditure from the public financial budget, seek more sources for the expenditure, and spend the educational budget in a more reasonable way.

• Mr. WEN Jiabao hosted a State Council meeting, more investment will be injected into education into education sector

温家宝主持召开国务院常务会议 部署加大财政教育投入工作等

               http://politics.people.com.cn/GB/1024/14851531.html

Research results recently published by the Chinese government showed that the employment rate of college graduates has risen over the last two years to 89.6 percent in 2010, about 3 percent higher than that of 2009, according to the results of a survey done by education research company MyCOS Institute released on 9 June 2011. College graduates' average monthly starting salary was 2,479 yuan (381.4 U.S.dollars) in 2010, 349 yuan higher than the starting salary of those who graduated in 2009. In 2010, the highest employment rate of college graduates was in Engineering, the lowest one was in Law.

• Employment rates of Chinese college graduates higher than before the economic  crisis, ten majors have high graduates employment rate 

中国大学生就业率超危机前水平 10大专业就业率高

http://www.shanting.gov.cn/art/2011/6/9/art_983_23680.html

The cost of studying in a foreign country is an important factor for Chinese families. But the weaker euro has made it easier to study in Europe. The value of the Euro has dropped 13 percent against the Yuan since December last year. So studying abroad has become a lot cheaper. Analysts suggest families buy euros while the currency is cheap.

·         Weaker euro boosts overseas education

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/video/2010-06/19/c_13358599.htm

UK

Every year in June and July, when many students are getting ready for the new semester, the British Council organises a series of free seminars in different cities for the students who were about to study in the UK, providing travel guidance and information about living in the UK.  The 2011 pre-departure seminar received wide coverage from major news websites and education related websites. The coverage also included an interview with the British Council. It said the UK still welcomes international students, and advices such career planning are provided to counteract the visa policy changes.

• Talk about studying in the UK: 2011 pre-departure seminars

               留英访谈：2011赴英留学行前准备会

      http://liuxue.eol.cn/tsft_7943/20110620/t20110620_636544.shtml

• The British Embassy and British Council hold Pre-departure seminars for students going to the UK

英国使领馆举办留英行前会

http://news.xinmin.cn/rollnews/2011/06/08/11079313.html

As the London 2012 Olympic draws nearer, early in June we saw articles linking the hosting of the Olympics with studying in UK. It quoted education agents to say that since the London 2012 Olympic would create more jobs, this year saw an increase in the number of UK student applications, especially for the majors such as civil engineering, IT and hotel management .

• The London Olympic attracts more students to the UK

伦敦奥运会举办助推赴英留学人数攀升

http://bjyouth.ynet.com/article.jsp?oid=79118290

New Zealand

On 1^st June 2011, the New Zealand Immigration announced changes to the requirements for student visas. According to the New Zealand Immigration, the changes to student immigration policies, which will come into effect from 25 July 2011, are aimed at attracting more genuine international students and enabling the best to stay in New Zealand.  Some of the key changes include:

• Introducing more criteria for the student visa policy to ensure students coming to the NZ are genuine

·         Tightening the requirements for attendance, academic progress and funds for maintenance

·         Adjustments to the Study to Work visa policies and Skilled Migrant Category

Full details of the changes can be found at http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/general/generalinformation/news/studentpolicychanges.htm

Although the changes are still being finalised, the announcement of the immigration policy changes received wide media coverage from major news outlets and education related websites. The coverage has largely been neutral or positive. Besides a brief introduction of the policies changes, many articles highlighted the tightened student attendance requirements in the title. The education agents commented that the new policies were designed to regulate the New Zealand international education. The comments said new policies would favour those graduates with higher skills, and the tightened requirements might affect the low quality language schools and eliminate the disproportionate number of students who go to the NZ to do half a year or one year cooking or business courses to obtain work visas, and as a result the genuine students would have a better studying environment. The lift of financial requirements was considered reasonable, because the NZ has not adjusted the requirements in the past ten years.  The education agents recommended that students start preparing early to cope with these changes. 

• New Zealand has new policies, international students must achieve 100% attendance

新西兰出台新政 留学生出勤率必须100%

http://edu.jschina.com.cn/Html/201106/18/20110618102333.htm

• New Zealand immigration carried out new policies to attract genuine students 

               新西兰移民局将推系列留学新政 吸引"真实"留学生

               http://news.china.com.cn/rollnews/2011-06/02/content_8141085.htm

Canada

The second High-Level Consultation on Education Collaboration (JWG meeting) between China and Canada was held in Beijing on June 21st, 2011. The Chinese Ministry of Education Vice-Minister HAO Ping attended the meeting. During the meeting, issues including student mobility and collaboration in research were discussed.  

·         Hao ping attended the China-Canada Second High-Level Consultation on Education Collaboration