Universities offer cash to students who find a job

In a tough job market, Shanghai's universities are offering a variety of incentives, such as subsidies for students willing to return to their home towns to work. This is meant to ensure a steady enrolment next year by bumping up the proportion of graduating students finding jobs, reports the Shanghai Daily.

Some schools say they will offer career training programmes, including communication skills, to the students who failed to land a job. Around 44% of 178,000 senior students at local universities and colleges had secured a job as of last week, 2% points down from last year, the Shanghai Education Commission said on Tuesday. The calculation excluded those who had been admitted to postgraduate studies, decided to study abroad or were starting up their own businesses.

The rate of postgraduates and students with a bachelor's degree who had accepted offers fell 2.2% and 4% respectively, while junior college students, those finishing two- or three-year programmes, saw a rise of 1.2%, the commission said. The city's universities said they were taking various measures to weather the negative impact.
Full report on the People’s Daily Online site