CRI听力:A UK University Promises Chinese Students Good Design Education

Reporter: Coventry University is one of the UK's leading 'modern universities', with around 30,000 students and a robust academic presence on a national and global scale.

David Pilsbury is the deputy Vice-Chancellor, who is in charge of the university's international cooperation business. He discloses their priority is to kick off an intensive cooperation with the Beijing-based New Oriental Vision Overseas Consulting Company.

"One of the things we've been talking about is how we could encourage together more students to come for some of the areas that Coventry is fantastic at, where we don't currently get many students from China, like fashion for instance. We also have a campus in London. Yet, we have few Chinese students. So we've been talking about ideas for promoting interest in fashion. It's our intention to bring some of the alumnae of our fashion course to China."

Coventry University's roots can be traced back to 1843 to the Coventry School of Design, which subsequently became known as the Coventry College of Art in 1954.

While the arts may be good for the soul, artistic majors are terrible when it comes to securing a well-paid job not only in but outside China. David Pilsbury boasts their university is distinctive in equipping these students with practical skills.

"Our design school has a particular focus on enabling people to make things. So even the automotive designs, they have to make clay models of the cars, it's very practical. So, when they are going to the real world, they have all the skills to make, not just draw a beautiful dress or suit, but they can actually make it. They understand the structure and functionality, not just the aesthetic appeal."

According to a survey on employment published in 2013 on the newspaper, 'Workers' Daily', Chinese college graduates who major in animation and art design were facing the worst employment prospects and earnings.

In 2014, China's northeastern province of Liaoning issued a report on employment quality in which it disclosed nearly 70-percent of art-majored graduates became freelancers.

Despite vowing to intensify cooperation with Coventry University, Sun Tao, Executive Vice President of the New Oriental Vision Overseas Consulting Company, admits his company still lacks a concrete plan to ensure better job prospects for those who pursue overseas college education in art design.

"We are still exploring the channels to facilitate art-majored graduates to land a job upon their return from overseas. And according to my experience, business majors now constitute the largest segment of those graduates who return from overseas and even their job prospects are not as optimistic as before."

Many art majors are forced to give up their pursuit midway. This is one factor that allows the copy culture to persist in China. And this fact drives many to consider whether the Chinese creativity can catch up with the West and how long before 'Designed in China' becomes the mantra?

Speaking with much ease, the deputy Vice-Chancellor says he thinks that changes could be made bit by bit through the country's hopeful young generation who are more likely to receive an international education.

For Studio Plus, I'm Xu Fei.