As Chinese families cut costs, studying abroad goes on the chopping block
- Popularity of overseas education wanes as incomes tighten and domestic institutions continue to improve
- Fierce competition for jobs, higher tuitions reduce potential benefit, but some students continue to pursue opportunities internationally
Grace Wang wakes every morning around 6 to spend her day planting trees in the Finnish wilderness.
Laden with baskets brimming with saplings, Wang and her fellow planters trudge down an uneven dirt road strewn with weeds and branches. With each step towards the designated area for planting, the weight of the basket presses harder on her weary shoulders.
“I had never done this type of physical labour before,” said the 21-year-old, who came to Finland last year to pursue an undergraduate degree in international business.
But now she is able to plant up to 800 saplings per day. Each one will earn her 0.11 euros (12 US cents).
The summer job is essential for Wang to continue her studies. Her parents’ business back in China, an overseas study agency, was on the decline during the coronavirus pandemic and eventually went bankrupt before the zero-Covid policy was abandoned at the end of last year.
