Can the quality be improved if the master’s degree is changed from two years to three years

　　Recently, Hebei Normal University issued a notice: starting from 2022, the training period for 7 majors (fields) of primary education, preschool education, and vocational and technical education under the master of education degree category is planned to be adjusted to three years.

In July of this year, Central South University also made it clear that the training period for graduate students of 2017 and beyond is three years.

　　Up to now, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hohai University, Zhengzhou University and many other "double first-class" universities have clearly extended the training period of some special masters.

What does it mean to change the training period from two years to three years?

Many schools acted together, does it represent a new trend?

It is a big change for the candidates

　　After several considerations, Wang Ziyi, a senior, decided to apply for a master's degree in finance at the University of International Business and Economics. One of the big factors is that "only two years of study".

　　Under normal circumstances, the length of training for a master's degree is three years; a master's degree is two years, and there are also two and a half years.

Factors such as length of study and employment prospects are the main factors for candidates to determine the major and school to apply for.

　　The "2020 National Postgraduate Admissions Survey Report" released by China Education Online shows that the main reason why candidates prefer to choose a master's degree is that they focus on the cultivation of practical ability and help employment. The second reason is that the difficulty of the examination is lower than that of the master's degree and the pressure of competition. small.

　　The combination of these factors, in Wang Ziyi's own words, is "specialized masters are cost-effective."

Nowadays, many colleges and universities have extended the length of training for masters and masters in "step in step", releasing a clear signal.

　　Why extend the training period?

The reporter called the Research and Enrollment Office of Hebei Normal University, and the response was "This is the general trend." The staff also reminded that the specific information on tuition fees, enrollment numbers and other specific information, "subject to the upcoming enrollment guidelines."

　　For candidates, this is not a small change.

Now, how many people are applying for the postgraduate exam?

According to statistics, the proportion of applicants for master's degree in 2020 will reach 57%.

According to the plan of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, the special master's degree will be expanded to two-thirds of the enrollment of master's students.

"Many students just go to the master's degree for the purpose of looking for work." Wang Ziyi said, "If you have to spend another year, it feels not worthwhile."

The first principle is always to cultivate quality

　　Since 2009, most of the postgraduates have implemented full-time training.

Nowadays, what are the considerations for extending the training period of masters?

　　"The most prominent contradiction of the master's degree is that the training time is too short." According to Li Xingdong, a professor at Henan Normal University, the first-year courses of the master's degree are mostly basic courses and public courses. Difficult to communicate with the instructor in depth.

In the second year, at least half of the time requires practical training, which shortens the knowledge learning time to a certain extent.

　　"Although it has always been advocated to train according to the characteristics of the master's degree, the assessment of the master's degree students at graduation is largely based on the style of the master's graduation thesis." Li Xingdong admitted that this determines the master's degree students. Have to spend a lot of time for academic training.

　　To solve the above problems, some experts came to the conclusion after repeated demonstrations: Extend the training years of special masters.

　　The person in charge of the recruitment of a "double first-class" university in central China revealed to reporters that for some universities, the extension of the training period is still driven by the "reality drive": the training period has been changed from two years to three years, and an extra year of training funds can be obtained. , "Universities with limited financial resources have received more per-student allocations, which is one of the reasons for prolonging the training period."

　　The unavoidable question is that once the training period is extended, the number of students in school will increase to varying degrees. Are there enough teachers and other supporting teaching resources?

The person in charge of the college’s admissions stated: “At present, there are 460,000 graduate tutors nationwide, and each tutor guides less than 7 students. Basically, it can cover the number of new students, but there is an imbalance between different schools.”

　　In addition, some schools cannot fully meet the housing requirements of all graduate students. This problem is particularly prominent in first-tier cities.

The person in charge of the university’s admissions office said: “Based on the above, it is not appropriate to extend the training period of masters and masters across the board.”

　　"Extending the training period will inevitably increase the cost of colleges and universities. However, the first principle is always the quality of training. The first principle is always the quality of training. For students, the tuition fee for a master's degree is about 10,000 yuan per academic year. According to the scholarship policy, scholarships and grants are average. The tuition can be covered, and at least part of it can be refunded." Li Xingdong believes that to a certain extent, this eases the financial burden of students.

The key is to be guided by practice and innovation

　　Liu Daqing, who is studying for a master's degree in engineering in Fujian, has already graduated for the second year.

According to the training plan, he should find an internship unit next semester.

After a year of master's degree, "From the content of learning, it is difficult to distinguish the difference between master's degree and master's degree." For internship practice, he hopes to meet a responsible off-campus tutor, "If there are more projects for teachers , Get more exercise."

　　Extending the training period of masters and masters is interpreted as helping to strengthen students' practical ability in internship.

But can it really solve the problem of weak practice links?

　　"The key to extending the training period is whether the training period has become a bottleneck restricting the improvement of the quality of master's training." Associate Professor Wang Chuanyi of Tsinghua University analyzed that the biggest problem with the current master's training is not insufficient training years, but the same quality of master's and master's degrees. This phenomenon is serious, that is, the enrollment and training of masters and masters are still carried out in accordance with the academic degree standards, so that the masters must not only meet the relevant requirements of the masters, but also complete the unique training links for the masters.

　　Wang Chuanyi said that in addition, applying academic degree graduation requirements and standards to evaluate the master's degree has also led to a "gap" rather than a "difference" between the master's degree and the master's degree.

The key to improving the quality of master's degree is to take practical innovation as the orientation, deepen the integration of production and education, practice professional practice, give full play to the enthusiasm of the enterprise industry, and participate in the training process of high-level applied talents.

(Reporter Chen Peng)