Uncovering the Secrets of Overseas "Instant Doctors"
The graduation threshold is lower than the total domestic cost of about 120,000 yuan, and there is no need to go abroad during the epidemic
It spent 18 million to introduce 23 Ph.D.s from Philippine universities. A few days ago, a public announcement issued by Shaoyang College in Hunan caused heated discussions.
The higher education in the Philippines is not outstanding in the world, and Adamson University is not a famous school. After 23 teachers "organized a group" to go to this university to study for a doctorate in two years and four months, they were introduced by Shaoyang College as a talent, and the cost was as high as 1800 yuan. million.
The focus of public opinion is whether it is worthwhile to spend huge sums of money to introduce "batch instant doctors"?
Several deans of secondary colleges of the school once said in an interview with the media that due to the difficulty of introducing domestic doctoral talents, the school selects a group of teachers with master’s degrees to study abroad for doctoral degrees, so as to increase the proportion of doctoral degrees in the teaching staff. It is helpful to upgrade the college to a university and apply for a master's degree in the future.
Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter learned in the interview that some domestic second-degree and higher vocational teachers have become the main groups applying for doctoral degrees in some Southeast Asian countries.
A student who had previously studied for a Ph.D. in Malaysia told reporters that in a university in Malaysia he attended, 95% of the Chinese students in a class were in-service teachers.
blogger says
95% of Chinese students in a class are working teachers
After the "batch introduction of doctors" attracted widespread attention, the Hunan Provincial Department of Education once told the media that it was already in the process of connecting with Shaoyang University.
On July 20, a person in charge of a secondary college of Shaoyang College told reporters that the Hunan Provincial Department of Education and the Personnel Office of Shaoyang College were already working on the matter.
A young teacher working in a second college in Liaoning told the Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter that he has a master's degree, and the school supports teachers to go out to study for a Ph.D.
However, what type of doctorate and where to study for a doctoral degree have little effect on the treatment, and the subsidies and settlement expenses will not be much different.
But I don't know the situation of Ph.D. in the Philippines, Thailand or Malaysia.
A teacher of a vocational college in Henan said, "The school does hope to improve the overall academic qualifications of teachers, but the trend of vocational colleges is not yet obvious. Some colleagues around me also go to open universities abroad, such as universities in the Philippines and Malaysia." One is preparing to study. The young teachers who joined a second college in Guangxi said that they have not officially started work, but the school and new teachers mentioned that to actively participate in the visiting program, the Expo is a good choice.
A former Ph.D student in Malaysia told the reporter that in a university in Malaysia he attended, 95% of the Chinese students in a class were in-service teachers.
Therefore, considering the gold content of his degree, he finally chose to drop out to pursue a Ph.D. in another country.
Study abroad agency
The total cost is about 120,000, and there is no need to go abroad during the epidemic
The reporter found out that Adamson University of the Philippines, where teachers from Shaoyang College "organized a group" to study, is a private university.
In November 2021, the school was included in the list of "Enhanced Certification Review of Academic Degree Certification" by the Overseas Study Service Center of the Ministry of Education, and the QS ranking was after 600.
A staff member of a study abroad agency told reporters that at present, domestic students are not recommended to go to Adamson University in the Philippines to study for a Ph.D. Because there are too many Chinese students, the education department and the study abroad service center may reconsider the formal enrollment of this university. There is a possibility of not being certified.
Similarly, the University of Sao Paulo in the Philippines is not recommended to study because there are too many Chinese students.
The staff member also said that the threshold for doctoral education in colleges and universities in the Philippines is indeed lower than that in China. Domestic doctoral graduation requires full-time study. SCI or SSCI is generally required to publish papers in international core journals, and there are also requirements for one district and two districts.
In the Philippines, it is sufficient to obtain a Ph.D. or to publish EI-level journal papers, and Philippine universities accept papers published in domestic Chinese journals.
At present, there are indeed many in-service teachers from domestic colleges and universities who go to the Philippines and Malaysia to improve their education. Most of them are teachers from higher vocational colleges and undergraduate colleges, accounting for 70%-80% of the international student group she contacts.
According to her introduction, many in-service teachers who are now studying for a Ph.D. still have salaries.
Some of them are supported by their colleges and universities, their expenses, and some employment schools can reimburse them, and study abroad agents can provide invoices.
If the university teachers who are studying for a Ph.D. have reached a certain percentage of the doctorate in their university, the school may no longer support Ph.D.
Now the total cost is about 120,000 yuan, including service fees for studying abroad and tuition fees for doctoral programs, and the time is basically two to three years.
During the epidemic, you don't even need to go abroad, you can take online classes directly, and many living expenses and transportation costs can be saved.
Another staff member of a study abroad agency told reporters that some in-service teachers in China are indeed the main force who go to the Philippines and Malaysia to study for PhDs.
A study abroad agent in Malaysia said that the doctoral program in Malaysian universities is generally 2-6 years, and most of them can graduate in 3-4 years.
The tuition fees for doctors in Malaysia are relatively low, about RMB 60,000 to 80,000, and rarely more than 100,000 yuan.
Overall, 200,000 yuan in 3 years is enough.
Expert observation
Promote evaluation reform and guide colleges and universities to be content with their own positioning
In response to such phenomena, Xiong Bingqi, dean of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said that the proportion of teachers' doctoral degrees is an important indicator for schools to change their name from colleges to universities, apply for master's programs, and evaluate school running.
In 2006, the "Interim Provisions on the Establishment of Ordinary Undergraduate Schools" clearly stated that among the full-time teachers called universities, the proportion of personnel with postgraduate degrees should generally reach more than 50%, and the proportion of full-time teachers with doctoral degrees in the total number of full-time teachers should generally be 50%. reach more than 20%.
This is the most important indicator of running a school for local undergraduate institutions that want to rename their colleges to universities.
According to the data, the degree structure of the faculty at the end of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period of Shaoyang College is as follows: 80 full-time teachers have doctoral degrees, accounting for 7.4%; Yes: There are 306 full-time teachers with doctoral degrees, accounting for 20%, of which 168 are doctors under the age of 35, accounting for 55% of the total.
Xiong Bingqi believes that, obviously, this is for the goal of renaming the university.
After changing the name of the university, it can not only expand the space for the school to run a school, but also obtain more school-running resources. When recruiting, the name of the university will also attract more students to apply for the exam.
Xiong Bingqi said that increasing the proportion of teachers with doctoral degrees in addition to creating conditions for changing their name to a university, applying for master's programs, and building first-class disciplines, if in-service teachers have obtained doctoral degrees from foreign universities, it can also increase the proportion of teachers with overseas study experience. And then to improve the international ranking of the university, it can be described as "multiplying with one stone".
This seemingly uneconomical project is not a loss-making business as some netizens said that spending so much money to introduce "Dr. Water".
Returning to the essence of this matter, we must continue to promote the reform of higher education management and evaluation, so as to guide colleges and universities to be comfortable with their own positioning and focus on improving the quality of running schools.
Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences, pointed out that this practice deviates from the purpose of college design, especially when public schools participate in it, use financial funds, and do not really do what the government and society entrust to colleges and universities. It should be regulated.
Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter Wu Yang intern reporter Wang Chenyuan intern Xi Congcong