According to the Beijing News, a recent survey on the employment pressures facing college students found that 20 percent of Beijing undergraduates would be willing to start a job without pay – a huge increase from last year’s figure of 1.2 percent. Whose failure is at the root of such an extraordinary phenomenon?

First of all, we should blame the education system. Colleges and universities teach students from textbooks and fail to equip them with the practical skills to survive the fierce competition in the job market. Students see universities as ivory towers – cut off from the real world. No wonder that when they graduate they are shocked by the harsh reality of life outside the campus.

Second, students who tolerate zero pay show a more backward mentality than those who left school early. Even poorly-educated migrant workers know how to use the law and the media to protect their interests. How have we arrived at a situation where college-educated people are willing to let employers trample on their basic rights?

Third, tolerance of this kind of thing is a failure of the legal system. It seems that even well-educated Chinese do not have any idea about the law. Is China going backwards – away from the law-governed society it says it wants to build?

Fourth, this is a failure of government. Both central and local governments need to work harder at creating job opportunities for college graduates. But right now it seems officials care little about the problem.

Finally, students should realize that they are letting themselves down. From primary school to college they spend 16 years in school with their parents footing the bill. But when the time comes to support themselves, they agree to work for nothing. That is truly shameful!

(The article was translated by Pang Li.)

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