Wu Nan -- a second-year student with the School of Information Technology at Beijing's Haidian University, one of the oldest private universities in China -- said: "If I had another chance, I would choose Haidian University again rather than a public university."

For a population of over 1.2 billion, China has only about 1,000 public universities. Only 47 percent of high-school graduates are able to go on to further education.

There are more than 1,300 higher-education institutions run by non-governmental agencies. Of those are 12 private universities, with each having more than 10,000 students.

A total of 1.5 million students, or 39 percent of all college and university students nationwide, receive higher education in these private institutions.

Wang Wenyuan, an associate research fellow with the Beijing Science and Education Institute, was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying that private universities in China have complemented public universities by training people in practical skills to meet the demands of society.

"The prosperity of private universities is also a catalyst for educational reform in this country," Wang said. Wang noted that private education has exerted some influence in changing Chinese people's view of education from that of "social welfare" to a "special service."

Hong Chengwen, a professor at Beijing Normal University, said: "The vitality of private universities lies in their range of specialisms and the way they take the employment market into consideration."

He added that social need is a major driving force behind private universities, according to the Xinhua report.

Zeng Yuhong, director in charge of enrolment at Haidian University, said: "We have an expert committee for every specialism to investigate the market. This helps to decide which (new) specialisms we should establish."

The university has many more unusual specialisms, such as visual arts and agency services, which have been established in line with the demands of economic development in Beijing.

Private universities employ teachers from top public universities. Half the part-time teachers in Haidian University are experienced teachers from top universities such as the capital's Tsinghua University and Peking University.

However, analysts say problems still exist in China's private education, such as finance, governmental policies, concepts and management.

Diplomas from only about 100 non-governmental private universities in China have been recognized by the government.

(China Daily August 12, 2002)