INSPIRATION FOR FOREIGN EDUCATION CENTRES
In fact, Singapore’s system inspired some foreign education outfits in China to seize the business opportunity and attract students through its classes.
For example, Shanghai-based One Academy teaches science and mathematics in English, based on Singapore’s curriculum.
Many of its students are enrolled there due to what their parents see as a way to stay ahead of the academic rat race in China.
One Academy’s co-founder Chow Chin Wei noted that last year, only about 1.5 per cent of Chinese students – or about 240,000 students – who took the notoriously tough gaokao (college entrance) examinations got into the top universities in China.
“The other 40 per cent go to the normal universities in China. So basically, you are looking at about 60 per cent that go … on the vocational route for these people. So, it’s actually very competitive,” said Chow, a Singaporean who has lived in China for 14 years.
His fellow co-founder Algene Tan added that many parents also worry about their children’s job prospects.
Currently, about three in 20 youths in China aged between 16 and 24 are unemployed.
“(Parents) want the best for their child … Some of them might even, in their words, want to change the stars for their child,” Tan said.
“So a lot of them, from the get-go, they will start to tell us I’m sending my kid overseas.”
To prepare her son for an English curriculum in Singapore, Ms Zhang enrolled her son into a mathematics enrichment class at One Academy.
She said she sees vast benefits in studying abroad and becoming more fluent in English.
“Even in supermarkets, many product descriptions are in English,” she pointed out.
“There might be Chinese translations, but when they are unavailable, you can directly read the English. So, I think it’s essential.”
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-overseas-education-english-usa-asia-shift-geopolitical-tensions-5168736
