Education system is not the sole culprit

Overseas education has boomed in China in recent years, with a growing number of students pursuing courses abroad at younger ages.

According to the Center for China and Globalization, a non-profit think tank, 76,400, or 19.8 percent of the total Chinese students that went abroad for studies in 2010, had academic certificates below the high school level. A year later, the number of high school students going abroad to study rose to 76,800, or 22.6 percent of the total pursuing education overseas.

With the phenomenon continuing to gain traction this year, there are now concerns whether such a trend augurs well for China's basic education system, especially when the authorities are considering a reform and enrollment plan for the gaokao, or the national college entrance examination. The reform, slated for early next year, also envisages removal of English as a gaokao subject.