Yes 1999. At that time, domestic demand in China was insufficient, and consumer investment continued to be weak. There is an urgent need for exogenous forces to promote residents to reduce savings and increase consumption. I don't know who came up with the idea of expanding enrollment in colleges and universities to increase residents' investment in education. In other words, the original intention of expanding enrollment in colleges and universities is not really to improve the cultural literacy of young people.

However, according to this move, the expansion speed of colleges and universities should be reduced after three years, that is, the scale of colleges and universities cannot be expanded indefinitely. But in fact, once a horse runs, it is difficult to stop. As a direct result, many secondary vocational schools in Chinese mainland closed down because junior high school students went to high school. Then, due to the shortage of students in technical schools, a large number of small enterprises in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province compete for skilled workers. College students, especially undergraduates, only know theory, but don't know practical skills and knowledge, so they can't replace technicians. Therefore, the salary level of college graduates (especially liberal arts students) is decreasing year by year. Today in 2006, the salary level of ordinary non-scarce undergraduates is close to that of migrant workers on construction sites, and a new theory of uselessness in reading begins to appear.