Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Zi-Corp (ZICA), formerly MCUAF -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PartyTime who wrote (1139)	8/19/1999 7:39:00 PM
From: Ahda	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2082

I agree with you it is kind of like shooting yourself in the foot if you don"t implement new technology that can advance you. Anyone else care to comment? Universities set to cash in on yearning for learning ANNE GRUETTNER in Beijing -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To jump-start its sluggish economy, Beijing is going back to school. Educational institutions are poised to stimulate investment by tapping demand for advanced degrees. Recently, officials started a wholesale push to make tertiary schooling a new economic growth point. The Ministry of Education has announced it will increase the number of students admitted to universities this year to 1.61 million, up 51 per cent from last year. Up until now, only one-third of the more than three million students who annually sat for national entrance examinations won university places. State subsidies for education will be increased by 18 billion yuan (about HK$16.78 billion) up to next year, while tuition fees will be raised from the existing 3,000 to 4,000 yuan a year up to 5,000 yuan. Since a university degree has long been seen as a guarantee to an upward career path, wealthy parents would be willing to invest more on their children's education, Beijing believes. Certainly there is room for growth. In the past, education was regarded as a free public service provided by the government. In 1997, education amounted to only 5.7 per cent of urban residents' per capita spending. However, a recent poll by the State Statistics Bureau and the Economic Forecasting Centre of China shows urban mainlanders are willing to spend more. "Education is one of the few areas where demand still exceeds supply by a big margin," observed Chen Zhunmin, president of the University of International Business and Economics. That may be true. However expanding access to tertiary education remains a challenge. Most state universities lack sufficient funding and qualified staff to meet the fast-growing demand. As a result, many have turned to raising funds through such non-traditional schemes as renting out land, buildings and even their names to private schools that operate from the same premises. An example of such "co-operation" is Beijing United University, a private institution which leases its classroom and dormitory buildings from Beijing University, commonly known as Beida. Most of Beijing United professors are also employed at Beida and see the private school as a means for making extra money. Upon graduation, the Beijing United students qualify for a bachelor's degree from Beida. In the future this kind of scheme will be further encouraged by the government. New laws to allow private tertiary institutions are on the drafting table. Meanwhile, authorities in coastal provinces have already been allowed to use private funds to finance colleges and universities. The system will be applied to other provinces in the next century. Other government plans, to provide bank loans to poor families and financial aid for vocational training after graduation, are on the drawing board. Premier Zhu Rongji recently indicated further schemes would include providing free land and reduced charges for building supplementary school facilities. Private bodies will be allowed to set up senior middle schools or advanced vocational schools and rich localities to build private universities. In Beijing alone there are 40 private schools for children under the age of 18 and numerous private programmes for tertiary education, both local and foreign. The potential financial gains in the mainland's education sector have already attracted many foreign entities to set up MBA programmes there with local universities. There are now seven co-operative MBA programmes between mainland and Western universities, with several in-house MBA offerings by companies such as Motorola.