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Irrational Policy a Likely Cause of ‘Involution’ in Education

Jul 23-2024   



Current policy has it that around 50% of middle school students go into vocational education after the high school entrance exam, which Prof. Zhang Junni of the NSD found ‘highly inappropriate’. She made the remark in a media interview on China’s households and human resources. She is NSD Associate Professor of Economics (Tenured).

 

At about the age of 15, Chinese students sit the high school entrance exam, the results of which send half of them to high school and the rest to vocational training schools. One major problem, said Prof. Zhang, is that a significant part of the vocational training system hasn’t docked with the future demand of society. In addition, the funneling mechanism means that 15-year-olds, whose brains are not fully developed, have to decide on the direction of their lives. Such a high-stake exam puts enormous pressure on students and their families, which gives rise to the so-called ‘involution’. Prof. Zhang said that involution partly explains why there is insufficient innovation; alarmingly, when children locked in ‘involution’ grow up to marriage age, they might choose to marry someone out of economic considerations over emotional ones due to the desire of not wanting their offspring to lose in involution. Prof. Zhang believed that involution is hardly likely to be alleviated by a decreasing population, which tends to come along with fewer good opportunities. The solution lies in the creation of an environment that enables diversified development and generates more opportunities, she said.

 

She also commented on the shrinking size of Chinese households and its implications on society, the economy, healthy aging, and sustainable development. To boost the fertility rate, she underscored the imperative to plug the immense gap in the number of nurseries, as 2023 statistics showed that only 6% of babies and toddlers aged 0-3 are in nurseries. Furthermore, she called on companies to value working mothers, whose multitasking and communication skills are boosted through child-rearing experience.

 

Prof. Zhang received her Ph.D. in Statistics from Harvard University. Her research encompasses Bayesian Demography, causal inference, and data and text mining.

Irrational Policy a Likely Cause of ‘Involution’ in Education

Jul 23-2024   



Current policy has it that around 50% of middle school students go into vocational education after the high school entrance exam, which Prof. Zhang Junni of the NSD found ‘highly inappropriate’. She made the remark in a media interview on China’s households and human resources. She is NSD Associate Professor of Economics (Tenured).

 

At about the age of 15, Chinese students sit the high school entrance exam, the results of which send half of them to high school and the rest to vocational training schools. One major problem, said Prof. Zhang, is that a significant part of the vocational training system hasn’t docked with the future demand of society. In addition, the funneling mechanism means that 15-year-olds, whose brains are not fully developed, have to decide on the direction of their lives. Such a high-stake exam puts enormous pressure on students and their families, which gives rise to the so-called ‘involution’. Prof. Zhang said that involution partly explains why there is insufficient innovation; alarmingly, when children locked in ‘involution’ grow up to marriage age, they might choose to marry someone out of economic considerations over emotional ones due to the desire of not wanting their offspring to lose in involution. Prof. Zhang believed that involution is hardly likely to be alleviated by a decreasing population, which tends to come along with fewer good opportunities. The solution lies in the creation of an environment that enables diversified development and generates more opportunities, she said.

 

She also commented on the shrinking size of Chinese households and its implications on society, the economy, healthy aging, and sustainable development. To boost the fertility rate, she underscored the imperative to plug the immense gap in the number of nurseries, as 2023 statistics showed that only 6% of babies and toddlers aged 0-3 are in nurseries. Furthermore, she called on companies to value working mothers, whose multitasking and communication skills are boosted through child-rearing experience.

 

Prof. Zhang received her Ph.D. in Statistics from Harvard University. Her research encompasses Bayesian Demography, causal inference, and data and text mining.