TV show apology to students

One of the most popular Chinese reality shows, Only You, in which candidates vie for jobs in front of a group of chief executive officers, came to Beijing to apologize to students who have returned from overseas for criticizing them on air and online.

"We made mistakes and caused misunderstandings because we know very little about international education or students' experiences abroad in recent years," said Liu Shuang, producer of the reality show. "We realize we need to learn a lot from you about your study and experience as we carry on with the program."

Zhang Shaogang, presenter of the show and also the one most criticized because of his harsh attitude toward contestants who have returned from overseas, also attended the meeting.

More than 20 former students who have returned from Australia and European countries were invited to the discussion, which took place in a hotel in Beijing with the whole crew of the reality show on Thursday afternoon.

Only You, produced and broadcasted by Tianjin TV station, has faced a fierce backlash recently because presenters and bosses said harsh things to two participants who both underwent higher education overseas.

Guo Jie, a 32-year-old student who studied in France for 10 years, was asked during the program whether his schooling document was fake because he could not answer the questions from the judging panel in French.

Guo was asked to hand in his diploma to the panel. One of the judges, Wen Yi, mistook his BAC +5 (equivalent to a master's degree) for a diploma.

This incurred the wrath of many students who have returned from France because they feel "the show knows little about education in France". The debate grew more fierce when the video was posted on Weibo.com.

A large number of students have demanded an apology from the program makers and judges.

"I've never studied abroad and my only experience abroad is traveling," Liu said during the Thursday meeting.

Zhang, the presenter, said he had been a teacher for eight years but had never studied abroad.

"I also had no idea that students need to get their degree certificate approved by the Ministry of Education after they returned to China and I am so grateful to know that today because I also felt terrible when I spoke of fake degrees on stage," Zhang said after a student told him about the necessary steps all students have to go through after they finish studying abroad.

Four students who returned from France, all with BAC +5 degrees, were also invited to Thursday's discussion. Each of them brought their certificate to the event and explained to the show makers how higher education in France is different from that in China.

"I've never studied abroad and I am only familiar with students who returned in around 2003 or so," said Zhang. "Now the situation is very different from that time, so I do have misunderstandings with many of them."

The presenter frequently puts harsh questions to applicants who have returned from overseas and is quite a controversial character on the Weibo.com debate.

"I've spent quite some time in Paris," a female student who had returned from France said, "I know that fake education documents really exist over there because some Chinese students are truly not working hard, but I think it is necessary for the program to treat us properly with no pre-formed negative opinions. They still have a lot to learn."