Students of Tsinghua University dance at the ceremony celebrating the 110th anniversary of the founding of their university. Tsinghua University, founded in 1911, is a top university in China that has produced many notable leaders and experts in different fields. Photo: cnsphoto

China's Ministry of Education on Wednesday released a list of Chinese-foreign cooperative education projects involving over 50 domestic schools including Tsinghua and Tongji universities, to further support schools via independent recruitment and reduce the challenge faced by Chinese students to study overseas due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cooperatively run institutions and programs can offer domestic study opportunities to students by means of two-way selection and selective admission as well, the authority announced on Wednesday. 

The independent recruitment plan is not included in the national unified enrollment, which will not occupy the original recruitment target and has no influence on the other kinds of enrollment, according to the education ministry.

Some universities have posted their independent recruitment plans on the internet to follow the ministry's call to provide students with more opportunities. 

Our school plans to "recruit 300 students" via the independent recruitment plan in year 2021-22, with 20 majors open to the students such as finance, marketing, global business and computer science, a media center working staff of Wenzhou-Kean University, a Chinese-American jointly established higher education institution based in Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

The university posted guidelines on Wednesday following the education ministry's notice. Candidates who are received by Wenzhou-Kean need to give up their previous opportunities to study overseas, and register both in Kean in the US and Wenzhou. However, candidates will study in Wenzhou.

Some had prepared for the independent recruitment plan in advance. The College of International Business at Shenyang Normal University on August 18 released an online examination plan for students under independent recruitment.  

Candidates need to stay in independent spaces to complete the tests and they also need to use dual-position cameras to monitor their face, body and desktop. Abnormal behaviors during their examination will be considered a violation of discipline, and will see them be disqualified from the examination.

Meanwhile, universities can continue to provide opportunities to receive those students studying overseas so that they can experience short-term study domestically.