Current Situation of Chinese higher education

Analysis of Current Overseas Study Market

2. The Difference between Chinese and Canadian Education Systems

The education system employed by Canadian universities is quite different from that of Chinese universities. On the one hand, it is more flexible and thus easier for university students in many countries to choose their major and related courses. On the other hand, Canadian universities are very strict about students’ required courses and credits. In China, the main courses have been set by various schools ranging from primary schools to universities except for some electives, and the students just need to learn as what has been planned. After Chinese students enter a foreign university, they must face tens of or even more than a hundred courses they have to carefully choose from. If the students are not certain about their majors, or they don’t know clearly which credits their majors require, they may easily get confused. It is possible that they may find the credits they have gotten are invalid after their hard work, which is a waste of both time and money as they then have to stay abroad much longer than they expected.

It is these differences between Canadian (and other foreign systems) and Chinese education systems that make students’ learning longer and more expensive. More importantly, the students may get frustrated when they study abroad. Most of the students who study abroad are the ones who failed in university entrance examination in China, and studying abroad should be a chance to enhance their confidence. However, the repeated or invalid study is an inevitable psychological burden to the students.