China Builds World's Largest Self-Study Higher Education SystemChina has built the world's largest self-study higher education system with 56 of every 10,000 people in the country having attended self-study examinations for the equivalent of college diploma.According to Wang Minda, vice-director of the China Higher Education Self-Study Supervision Committee, more than three million Chinese have obtained diploma over the past two decades, with over 100 million others applying for the examination. More than 230 subjects in 11 categories are available for self-study, a life-long education regardless of age, said Wang. The examination for those who study by themselves started in 1981 mainly in urban areas, as a government policy to train more talented people for the country's modernization drive. Those who pass the exam equivalent to that of a college student will be treated as a college graduate. The self-study education system will be extended to rural areas, where examination service outlets will be added. Information technology will be applied to facilitate the self- study education, which is playing an increasingly important role in China's higher education, said education experts. |
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