People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers practice with swords during a winter training in Heihe, Heilongjiang Province. (Photo : Reuters)
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has adopted policies that give preference to young, talented and educated young people and entice them into joining the military as PLA prepares for the annual recruitment before the start of the graduation season in June.
The Global Times reported that the PLA will start to go around colleges next month to promote military careers among the students, especially those who are graduating in June.
The report said that the yearly recruitment period was shifted from winter to autumn and summer in 2013 in time for graduation season.
The report added that the PLA is having difficulty attracting talented young people, which military observers attribute to the decline in national defense awareness and the lack of attractive offer for long-term careers that fresh graduates are wishing for.
Li Daguang, a professor at the National Defense University of the PLA, told the Global Times that in Shandong, known as a major contributor of military recruits, the number of new PLA recruits started to drop four or five years ago.
According to China National Radio, at least a 10th of the new recruits are young people from the provinces.
The State Council and the Central Military Commission determine the number of college students to be recruited by military authorities each year.
Wang Zhigang, a professor with the Academy of Military Sciences of the Chinese PLA, said that soldiers with college education only make up 10 to 15 percent of the total soldiers in grassroots military companies as of 2014.
Li told the Global Times that despite the flashy traditional ads and online recruitment ads, the PLA continues to have difficulty getting new recruits from colleges.
Li also noted that some young recruits change their minds even after they have gone through all the process of recruitment and refuse to serve or ask to leave the service.
To encourage young people, the government has also started reimbursing the tuition fees of college graduates in 2009. Two years later, the government funded tuition fees of college student who suspended their studies to join the army.
Xie Xiaobo, the chief of staff at the Guizhou Xingyi military command, however said that many factors contribute to the waning interest of young people to join the military. He said these key factors include the country's family-planning policy which resulted in population decline, the preference of students to pursue other fields or continue their studies, the weak awareness in national defense and the poor treatment given to soldiers, especially demobilized soldiers.
Xinhua reported that in 2011, an amendment to the Military Service Law urged local governments to prioritize ex-soldiers who take civil servant examinations and apply for college education. Local governments are also asked to provide vocational training to former soldiers, Xinhua added.
Li however suggested that the country should begin to enlist young people and give soldiers better treatment and preference, to ensure sufficient number of high-quality soldiers.
