POREG VIEW: As the US of America is losing its charm as a destination for high learning, Australia and China are emerging as the new educational hubs attracting students from Asia and Africa. Down Under has lost its initial advantage what with a spate of racial attacks.  So, China has become a big draw.   But as the New York Times despatch from Beijing shows investment in education and training are not paying off for many college graduates. The degrees produced by Chinese colleges are rapidly losing their value. The situation is similar to the predicament students from universities in Moscow, Tashkent and other Central Asian centres faced after the breakup of Soviet Union.

Like in the case of erstwhile Soviet Union, in China too, the problem appears to be a result of structural disorder. While the elite 100 universities enjoy strong state patronage, the rest are largely left on their own even as their enrolment registered a seven- fold increase.

For these private universities, more in-take means more revenue. Surprisingly, these teaching shops don’t have enough qualified faculty.  Nor do they offer quality education with their focus limited to ‘soft’ and ‘popular’ courses like business/public administration, international commerce, and foreign languages. Bulk of the six million graduates coming out of these centres of learning are languishing in the secondary job market where wages are low and job security is a mirage.

The situation must be cause for alarm to the Chinese leadership, who want to position China as the Super Power successor to the US whose influence and economy are in a spin after the Great Melt Down Effect.