University ‘buddy system’ for foreigners under fire

A Chinese university has sparked controversy for a project that is being seen as proof of its brazen favouritism towards male overseas students, writes Ryan General for Nextshark.

Shandong University was forced to apologise after it came under fire for allegedly providing each of its male foreign students with several female ‘study buddies’. In 2016, the university instituted a ‘buddy system’ that supposedly aims to help foreign students adapt more easily to life in China. The university rolled out the programme the following year which began pairing each foreign participant with a Chinese student, according to The Paper.

The programme only faced widespread backlash recently after it was revealed online that the previous one-to-one relationship had allegedly been changed to one foreign student getting paired with three Chinese volunteers. These volunteers are supposed to not only assist them with school work but also keep them company at social events such as “dance parties and hiking excursions”. Based on the programme turn-out, the majority of the international students who participated were male while most of the Chinese ‘buddies’ were female, Shanghaiist reports.
Full report on the Nextshark site