A survey says that successful parents tend to value overseas study more. (Photo : www.theaustralian.com)
An official from the Division of International Education at the Ministry of Education, China’s top education authority, has announced that the government is pressing for the acceptance of its national college entrance examinations, or gaokao, in the admissions process of foreign universities, the Global Times reported.
"We are currently working on having foreign countries recognize the grades of China's gaokao," Yu Jihai, deputy director of the Division of International Education at the Ministry of Education, said during a conference on education internationalization held on May 24, Sunday.
According to the report, the gaokao scores of Chinese students who are planning to enrol in degree programs have been accepted in some universities in the U.S., Australia and Italy.
The report said that Chinese students can save both time and money if foreign universities would assess students based on their gaokao scores.
Chu Zhaohui, a research fellow with the National Institute of Education Sciences, however, said that the need for Chinese authorities to promote the gaokao is not urgent, since foreign universities are likely to look for prospective Chinese students to find enough lucrative international students to enrol in their courses.
"The fact that some Australian universities take into account gaokao scores means that Chinese applicants do not need to take a one-year preparatory program if their gaokao scores exceed the requirement set for first-tier universities in their provinces, which could save them about 250,000 yuan ($40,325) in tuition and living expenses," an agent working to assist Chinese students prepare for studying overseas in Beijing told the Global Times.
The agent said that only few Chinese students are admitted to colleges abroad based solely on their gaokao scores. She added that universities that accept gaokao scores also require Chinese students to score high in language skills tests, which are often difficult for them to pass.
Chu told the news site that in the future, Chinese universities may find it difficult to attract outstanding students, but this will encourage the universities to take up reforms in their assessment and management systems to become more competitive in the global higher education market.
More than 459,800 Chinese nationals are studying at universities abroad in 2014, an increase of 11.1 percent compared with 2013.
