(ECNS) -- In a recent online survey conducted by China Youth Daily, 60.6 percent of respondents said Chinese students study abroad in order to get a foreign diploma, the newspaper reported on Monday.
In addition, 46.5 percent said Chinese students want to gain employment advantages through overseas education, while 42.8 said students study abroad for better education.
Other factors pushing students offshore include overseas education serving as an eye-opener (38.5 percent), seeking independence from parents (29 percent), and avoiding China's high examination pressures (28.4 percent). Another 22.8 percent of those surveyed said students simply jump on the study-abroad bandwagon without any clear motivations.
The online survey involved 1,621 respondents, of whom 24.6 percent are students and 54.4 percent, parents.
The survey also showed that 64.7 percent of respondents think there are many "diploma mills" globally. The three main characteristics of "diploma mills" cited were: low entry thresholds (64 percent), selling diplomas for money (60.9 percent) and diplomas not publically recognized (48.9 percent). Other characteristics included school promotion by commercial means (40.8 percent), having similar names to world-renowned universities (39.9 percent), unqualified teaching (30.6 percent) and a shortage of teachers (12.7 percent).
According to the survey, 57.9 percent of respondents said those who fall victim to "diploma mills" usually just want to improve their social status through studying abroad and do not care what they learn; 53.2 percent said it is hard for students and parents to find reliable channels to find out about qualifications offered at foreign universities; 42.7 percent said some people have an indiscriminate preference for foreign education and related diplomas; 38.6 percent said it is hard to know whether a university is a "diploma mill" or not; and 23.4 percent said Chinese authorities have failed to expose foreign "diploma mills" in a timely manner.
In order for students and parents to avoid the pitfalls of overseas education, 59.9 percent of those surveyed called on Chinese authorities to set up a pre-warning system and regularly blacklist foreign "diploma mills", 46.1 percent urged a tougher crackdown on illegal overseas education service agencies, and 38.4 percent hoped authorities would issue a list of recognized foreign universities and details of the best means of contacting them. Besides, 59 percent advised students and parents to do earnest research on foreign universities while 55 percent said some Chinese would be better off if they stop their blind worship of foreign diplomas.
