Wang Yuanyuan, Chen Yanjun

cheekywang@hotmail.com

Three years ago, nearly 3,000 junior students entered the city’s four top high schools, Shenzhen Middle School, Shenzhen Experimental School, Shenzhen Foreign Languages School and Shenzhen Senior High School. However, only about 2,600 of them sat this year’s National College Entrance Examinations (NCEE). Where did the rest go?

According to the four schools, these 400 students, mostly outstanding students who could have entered the country’s top universities, chose to continue their studies abroad.

“We have 813 students sitting this year’s NCEE, but there were 927 students entering Senior 1 three years ago. Another 114 students all chose to study in countries such as the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada through our international class. About 12 percent of students who will enter Senior 3 in September are expected not to sit the NCEE next year,” said Tao Shengyuan, teacher and spokesman of Shenzhen Senior High School.

In Shenzhen Foreign Languages School, about 20 to 25 percent of students choose to study abroad every year. “This year, about 170 students will start their higher education overseas. We have more than 20 exchange students every year and at least 15 will go straight to overseas universities,” said a teacher surnamed Xie at the school.

“Studying overseas may be more suitable for me. Foreign universities like to explore students’ creativity, independence and leadership abilities and those are the things that I am interested in,” said Yang Yueqi, a student from Shenzhen Middle School. Yang will go to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in September.

It is expected that more outstanding students in Shenzhen will choose to study abroad in the future and this is part of the city’s internationalization, said Wang Qingguo, dean of the International Exchange College of Shenzhen University.

“Many of them can enter better universities overseas and can even get scholarships and it gives them the chance to understand foreigners and other cultures. When they come back, they will be more open-minded and become international professionals, which is also good for the future development of the city. If they plan to live abroad permanently, going to university abroad can also help their job prospects in China,” said Wang.