Getting schooled

By Brad Perriello, Associate Editor -- Industrial Distribution, 9/4/2008 8:08:00 AM

China’s investment in education will likely increase the pace of its economic development, according to a report from the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI (www.mapi.net).

Already enjoying annual growth rates of nearly 10 percent, China’s economic boom should be sustained by its government’s increasing spend on education. That means rapid wage growth for the country’s workers, higher levels of consumer demand and slower population growth, according to China’s Educational Performance: Implications for Global Competitiveness, Social Stability, and Long-Term Development.

Since the 1990s, when the Asian Tiger placed a priority on higher education, the number of high-school graduates who went on to college or university surged from 6 percent in 1999 to 20 percent in 2005, economist Cliff Waldman writes.

That’s about halfway down the list of major developed and industrialized nations when it comes to higher education enrollment. In India, 11 percent of college grads elect to go back to school; in Vietnam, 16 percent decide to keep studying. In the United States, 83 percent of high school graduates enter college or university, while in Japan the rate is 55 percent.

And Waldman notes that in one crucial area, China is far outpacing both Japan and the U.S.: Engineering. In 2006, 36 percent of Chinese undergraduate degrees and 37 percent of graduate degrees were awarded in engineering. In 2004, only 6.2 percent of U.S. undergraduate degrees were in engineering—numbers that should be a “wake-up call” to invest in science and engineering education, Waldman notes.

“Research has shown that the growth in the science and engineering work force is one key element contributing to growth in product and process innovation,” he says.

The report, available free to MAPI members or for $50 here, also indicates that China’s education policy could help accelerate the country’s already robust economic growth rate, especially where jobs and wages are concerned.

“Efficient and productive education investments will only accelerate the already speedy upward climb of Chinese wages, particularly for skilled workers,” Waldman explains.