Can Chinese Students Replicate Bill Gates’Success?

China will see 7.49 million students graduate from college this year and how to help them find jobs poses a tremendous challenge. The Ministry of Education has recently issued a notice， calling on colleges to offer a more flexible schooling system that allows students to suspend their studies to pursue business opportunities off campus.

The ministry said it would offer favorable policies， including entrepreneurship training， for students who wish to start their own businesses. Schools are required to offer courses on entrepreneurship that award academic credits and invite entrepreneurs and investors to share their expertise with students. Students are encouraged to try their hand at a wide range of businesses including online shops and they would be supported by NGOs， financial institutions and other companies.

The announcement soon attracted extensive public attention. Some have praised the measures as more students will be able to do what they really like without having to wait until they graduate. Others， however， are worried that these measures will do little to tackle the employment challenge， as this is not something that most students are capable of doing.

Flexible schooling

Xu Dafa （www.nen.com.cn）： In the past， it would have been unimaginable for a student to defer studies to start his or her own business and be supported by the school. Parents would not be likely to support such a practice. Its risky because students might fail in their ventures while their studies remain incomplete.

In recent years， due to the difficulty in job hunting， a certain number of students cant be employed after graduating. If students are allowed to start their own businesses before they graduate， maybe they will find themselves in a better situation in the face of the fierce employment market.

College students are adults， who should be able to make plans for their careers and even lives independently. However， under the current education model， they often lack the capacity to do so. If they can create their own businesses before graduating， on the condition that they can continue their studies someday in the future， college students will find it easier to adapt to society.

Thanks to such a flexible schooling system， students in college will be able to freely choose how to move on with their studies. Of course， to ensure the maximum of success in business operation， supportive polices such as tax reduction are crucial.

Jing Yishan （Xinhua Daily Telegraph）： The significance of this policy is that it can flexibly meet students personal demands for college education. For so many years， college students are subject to one single model of education. They have to leave school after four yearsstudy， or they cant get their diplomas.

Under such a rigid education system， students who are eager to start their own businesses often have to face a dilemma， and most of them hesitate and wait until graduation. With the new policy， capable students can go bravely into the market as early as they want， without worrying that they cant get their diplomas.

Starting a business and achieving success is a Cinderella tale that few people have lived. Different colleges should take different actions in terms of this new policy. Vocational colleges may provide more favorable measures to encourage their students to start businesses of their own， while research-oriented colleges should continue to encourage their students to study more and research more in college， instead of taking the risk of starting businesses.

Bian Guangchun （Guangzhou Daily）： U.S. business magnates Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are two examples of great minds that left college to create their own businesses. However， students and their parents also have their worries. To go to college is not an opportunity easy to come by， and thus to suspend college studies for a new business is a tough choice. The road toward the success of ones own business is often bumpy and no one can predict the future. To spend the prime time of ones life starting a business is a big risk. Despite successful examples like Gates and Jobs， its hard to replicate another persons successful.

Nevertheless， this is an attractive policy. It is not about quitting school， but postponing studies. Students can return to the campus and carry on with their studies if they want to. For those who are determined to start their own businesses， its better for them not to hesitate. Although its a risky choice， the joy of success will turn out to be greater than if they choose to stay and find a good or bad job just as most of their peers do.

A hard choice

Guo Yuanpeng （www.newssc.org）： The Ministry of Educations new policy is intended to help relieve huge employment pressure， which is a big headache for the government and college graduates alike. However， to what extent this policy will work is hard to say. Some college graduates have started their own businesses and some even do very well. Most of these success stories are based on the students strong family backgrounds. They either own wealthy families， or their families already have big companies. In other cases， some students may come from ordinary families， but their success is based on many accidental factors and thus their success is not easy to replicate.

To start ones own business is a challenge， even for those who have struggled for many years， let alone college students. There are cases in which some people， who have never gone to college， achieved great success in their own businesses， becoming millionaires. Still， we cant neglect the importance of knowledge. When a college student， who knows little about marketing and the economy， goes into real market competition， its very dangerous to himself and to the whole business team behind him. Meanwhile， his normal studies in the college are interrupted. Once they fail， the shadow of that failure will be with them for quite a long time， blocking their future efforts to run their own businesses.

In my opinion， a students priority should be to learn as much knowledge as possible and to prepare themselves for their future careers. They need to finish their school studies， be employed and accumulate certain experience before starting their own businesses.

Employment is a big issue facing the government， but it must be realized that many things need to be done to solve this problem and the new policy will play a limited role. The model of “deterring studies to start businesses”is not something that can be pushed forward extensively among college students.

Qu Jinyi （Changsha Evening News）： In the past， if a college student wanted to start his or her own business， he or she had to quit school， and it was a very risky choice. With the new policy， students will face smaller losses in case they fail in their businesses， as they can return to the campus and resume their studies. In this sense， this policy means to encourage as many college students as possible to start their own businesses， without worries about the loss of college studies. Moreover， a student failing in his or her own business may study harder than before.

At home and abroad， there are a lot of stories of students success in starting a business after quitting college. On the whole， however， the atmosphere of operating ones own business in China is quite different from that in many other countries. At the current stage， although many Chinese students are willing to start their own businesses， only a few really take action. Furthermore， the success rate is low. The Ministry of Educations statistics show that only 30 percent of college students companies can survive five years after being launched.

Therefore， although students can come back to the campus to pick up their studies again， to start their own businesses is still risky. Nowadays， students can learn little from college on how to start a business. More importantly， most of them dont have the money to start a business， equally in short are business opportunities. At the present stage， most students still prefer stable jobs in government departments and big corporations.