Graduates face higher employment pressure

Against the backdrop of economic downturn at home and abroad, college students are likely to face high employment pressure in the near future.

The number of domestic college graduates is in constant growth, it was 5.59 million in 2008, 6.1 million in 2009, 6.31 million in 2010 and 7.58 million in 2011, according to the Ministry of Education.

Academic observers believe that colleges, which have recruited too many students, are to blame for the employment problem.

However, Huang Teng, a deputy of the National People's Congress and also president of Xi'an International University and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the university, has an opposite view. He points out that the employment problems are a complex issue involving multiple aspects and fields, and that we should not rush to a conclusion.

Huang said that, compared with developed countries, Chinese college students are not too many, but too few.

According to the formula to calculate the gross enrollment ratios of higher education, the Unites States are at more than 80 percent, some European countries are at over 90 percent, and Asian countries such as Singapore, India, and South Korea are above 40 percent. China is at 22 percent.

What does the Chinese figure mean? It means that out of every 100 people aged between 18 and 22 in China only 22 are college students, including all education forms such as Adult Education and TV University.

Shouldn't we feel ashamed for such a huge gap between China and those countries?