CRI听力：Increasing enrolment in postgraduate programs: effective or not?

Universities nation-wide will increase the enrolment of postgraduate students, focusing in particular on recently graduated undergraduates. Ren Zenlin, an official at the Ministry of Education has announced the number of spaces in postgraduate programs will increase by 50 thousand in total this year.

This news has sparked heated public debate. Some people applaud the Ministry of Education's measure, saying that it gives college graduates another option other than hunting for a job amid the current shrinking job market. In addition, these people argue that students' tuition fees and other living expenses, accommodation and transportation will help to boost domestic economic recovery. (www.hxen.net)

However, a commentary in the Beijing News disagrees, and the author argues that increasing enrolment numbers for postgraduate programs simply postpones and perpetuates the current daunting job-market reality. Newly recruited postgraduate students will still rely on society to offer them employment once they graduate.

What's more, the author points out, an inadequate survey and assessment of the demand for future graduates will create expectations that may become larger obstacles for both students and society later.

The author concludes by suggesting that universities and colleges beef up efforts to elevate the quality of teaching, otherwise the job-market pressures will increases in the future.