Trying to give foreign students in China special treatment is not the right way to attract them, instead universities should focus on ensuring high-quality education, analysts said. The criticism comes after Shandong University offered a "study buddy" program, in which it matched each foreign student with three Chinese students.
The university started the program in 2016. This year, it not only included pairing up more domestic students for each overseas one, it also included questions such as personality type and whether they would like a friend of the opposite gender. People asked whether the university was trying to find partners for the foreign students.
Some netizens criticized that this would be an attempt to flatter overseas students, who are often treated better than domestic students. But Shandong University is not an exception. This is quite common in China’s universities; for instance, some universities offer better accommodation and study environments for overseas students.
Yet others think online voices have twisted the purpose of Shandong University, because the system may be a quick way to help foreign students feel a sense of belonging when they arrive in a strange place.
Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said that the Shandong University’s case mainly reveals the special treatment for foreign students.
The special treatment, according to the news report online, refers to luxury single accommodation, flexible studying schedule or even higher scholarship awards. For instance, many Chinese students live in a dorm of six to eight people.
In a bid to show their recruitment performance, many universities undoubtedly provide lots of special treatment to attract more foreign students, because the proportion of international students is also a basic index for evaluating whether the university is a first-class educational institution.
Yet, with the increasing number of foreign students in China’s universities, the overall quality of foreign students in domestic universities has not improved. This means that the best way to attract good foreign students relies on the top-notch quality of education, rather than other incentives.
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