INSIGHT INTO CHINAS INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION STRATEGY.
PRELUDE ;
Its summer 2022,and its graduation season for manyinternational students across universities in China . Over the past 30 years, China has grown to become a leading destination for international students ,with China currently the second largest destination behind France for African students. With the increasing global ranking for Chinese universities such as Peking, Tsinghua and others, the benefits to the international students is visible. However, many view Chinese education policy as an extension of its soft power policy just like Britain and France during the colonial days and there is growing criticism of the quality of education rendered by some universities to the students.
CHINESE EDUCATIONAL POLICY AND AFRICA.
At the height of the cold war and during the anti-colonializationperiod , Maoist China become one of the destinations for African scholars to acquire education on Marxism/socialist ideology. Additionally, African governments sent military personnel to China for military training. As the Chinese economy grew in the late 20th and early 21st century , Chinabegan to position itself as an alternative to tertiary education compared to western countries. Chinas strategy was initially approached from a position of spreading Chinese soft power influence on the continent just like British and French colonial education before. The aim was to educate children of influentialpersonnel with Chinese education , norms, language and systems so that eventually when they are fully entrenched in the leadership or working class on the continent, China already hada foothold. This was also coupled by the need by Chinese universities then to have large number of international students enrolled so as to increase their global university ranking. The Chinese government through the Chinese scholarship council(csc) usually awarded scholarships through the Chinese embassy in the respective African nations. But due to factors such as high level of bureaucracy, corruption and nepotism ,such scholarships were initially available to a selected few i.e.children and family of the political and business class. However as time progressed, scholarship agents ( usually former students based in China ) ,accessibility of university opportunities to the mainstream public through university and embassy social media platforms and the opening up of more universities to international students have made the scholarshipsmore wide spread across the continent. According to the 2019 Chinese ministry of education report, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia , south Africa and Zimbabwe top of the list of African countries from which students originate from.
CHALLENGES SO FAR
There are very many challenges faced by international students while in China ranging from adapting to the language, weather, food to issues such as the inability to work while studying . The later is one of the primary concerns, however the recentamendments to the Chinese policy on international education in February 2022 , permitted work to students provided authorization from the schools is granted and they meet the required skills needed. Issues of the quality of international education offered by some Chinese universities has raised concerns especially those teaching in the English medium. There have been cases of Chinese international graduates failing to adapt to the standards of the local needs of their native working sector, for example the medical students . However ,educational reforms are being discussed and implemented to combat this issue and improve the quality of international education in some institutions.
COVID 19 AND CHINESE INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
At the onset of the outbreak of the pandemic in Wuhan in January 2020, fear and panic gripped many international students across the country. Many international students opted to leave China for their native countries with the hope of returning once the pandemic ceases. But as the China maintained her zero- covid approach to the pandemic, borders are still closed and they are yet to return. Its during the pandemic, that China became one of the first nations to integrate online learning into its educationsystems through homegrown tech apps such as TenCent meeting and rain classroom app. This enabled the continuity of the education of many international students both in China and in their native countries. Its also during the same period, that they were calls for repatriation of many stranded students especially in the city of Wuhan. Very few African countries repatriatedtheir students with most opting to sending them money for their needs which was in a way a show of solidarity and confidence with the Chinese government at its darkest hour.
Fast forward, most students just like other Chinese nationals are accustomed to the dynamic zero covid policy that will require lockdowns if necessary, continuous mass testing and restricted or limited movement with some claims that such policies negatively affect the mental health of students.
Recently there have been calls by many international students to return back in order to complete their studies especially thosethat require laboratory classes. In 2021, a selected group of south Korean students were allowed to return back and by June 2022, there are provisions for the gradual phased return of students from Iran, United States, and Pakistan. Although they have been calls to add other countries especially African nations to the list due to relatively low covid rates on the continent compared to elsewhere and the strong solidarity they stood with China during the pandemic.
CONCLUSION.
Chinese international education has provided a credible alternative to traditional western international education for many developing nations. However, there remain challenges that have to be addressed to properly make this educational policy much more qualitative. Over the recent years, Chinese educational institutions have introduced policies that not only encourage more international students such as scholarships but also formulated ways to boast the quality of its international education so that it eventually becomes a win-win for all partners.
Written by
Rugaba john Paul
Research fellow at development watch center think tank .
