Development Trends in Overseas Study
3.
Negative
Influence from Imitators Threatens Credibility of Genuine Programs
The
overseas study market is vast in China and there are many ways of going abroad.
However, the word will be easily spread regarding the advantages of excellent
overseas agencies and there will likely be some agencies that wish to copy their
success, i.e. the imitators. It¡¯s well known that some of the most well known
Chinese enterprises tend to boom for a short period and find it difficult to
keep their leading positions for more than a few years because imitators often
harm their reputation through poor management.
It
is the same situation with good overseas study agencies. When they become
successful they have to take the risk of being copied, but this often destroys
credibility in the process. Some agencies copy the superior ones¡¯ structure
and set up similar programs. However, the quality of imitators¡¯ program may be
much poorer than that of better ones. This causes the problem of students
spending more but gaining less and then coming away with a negative experience.
There cannot be only one successful agency in the market; there always are good agencies that are most suitable to the market. Only these agencies that are strong, experienced and regulated, and that have first-class cooperative universities and faculties in China can keep their leading position. Indeed, these agencies are of great potential in Chinese overseas study market and will be eventually be the only well-informed choice to senior high school students who want to go abroad to study. As they increase, the Chinese overseas study market will form a more stable structure.
©
Canadian National Education Exchange Centre Inc., 2006