Electronic business graduates in China are facing low employment rates, said a senior official from the Ministry of Education.

"Every year, China will have more than 10,000 e-business postgraduates. However, only 20 percent of them will find jobs, a ratio that is much lower than the 47 percent average among all of the country's graduates," said Wu Yang, a senior official from the higher education department.

China has more than 180 universities with established e-business courses, since the sanction of the Ministry of Education in 2001. More than 70,000 students are taking these courses.

The country needs an estimated 200,000 e-business talents every year, because it has 8.7 million enterprises. More than 100,000 among them are large scaled or medium sized businesses.

The low employment rate was mainly due to the current courses and education styles, Wu said. The teaching levels in the universities' differ from each other. Some of the universities provided less practical opportunities for students. Many students lacked a full understanding of e-business and its usage, Wu said.

Under the circumstances, the graduates did not meet the demands of the highly competitive industry, she added.

To solve the problem, the Education Ministry established a committee in May to guide the e-business courses in universities.

E-business education should include fundamental courses on information technology, business management and Internet economy, said Chen Deren, the deputy director of the committee. They should also include professional courses to shape students' capability to use and create, as well as some avant-garde courses in-phase with social and economic developments, he added.

Universities should also enhance cooperation with society and enterprises, and build practical based courses for those students. This will help them pickup the fundamental e-business knowledge as well as be capable of serving these enterprises and society, he said.

(Shanghai Daily June 5, 2006)