According to foreign media, Angelina, an 11 year old Beijing girl, can speak fluent English and Chinese, play tennis and football, and attend summer camps in the United States.
It was reported on the BBC website on January 21 that Angelina's parents chose to let her go to private schools instead of public schools in China because they were worried about the "high-pressure environment" of public schools.
"I chose to send my two daughters to private schools in China because there is not enough communication between teachers and students in public schools, and there is too much pressure," said Ms. Lin from Taiwan. "I want to send her to the United States to study in the future, where universities are better and there are more job opportunities."
According to the report, many wealthy Chinese families like Ms. Lin's are rejecting traditional Chinese education. More and more people have higher requirements for their children's schools. They hope to have other choices. They think that more Western education can cultivate children's creativity, and they are willing to spend money on it.
CLSA, a securities brokerage and investment bank focusing on Asia, estimates that the current private school education market in China is more than 315 million dollars. CLSA expects that the number of students in all private international schools will maintain an annual growth of 14% until 2018.
According to the report, the private school industry is booming: for parents willing to pay (Weibo) For example, there are a variety of courses to choose from, including private courses once a week and full-time boarding schools. Some schools provide a full range of education services from kindergarten aged three to 18. Many schools also provide extracurricular activities and English, art or music training.
A research report published by McKinsey in January 2015 shows that the number of private kindergartens in China has exceeded that of public kindergartens. In the middle school stage, the proportion of private schools in China was 3% 10 years ago, and now it has reached 10%.
It is reported that more than 9 million students in China experience a terrible exam every year, which will determine what kind of university students can go to and ultimately affect their future work and social status. The public education system basically revolves around this huge pressure“ college entrance examination (Weibo) ”Instead, expand.
Examination oriented education starts at a very young age, and many parents try to send their children to the best kindergartens. This will lead them to better primary schools and junior high schools, and then to first-class high schools with the highest quality teachers and other resources.
"Today's education system ignores personality cultivation, values and social responsibility. This is the reason behind many important problems in our country," Beijing University of Technology (Weibo) Yang Dongping, an education expert of, and president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said, "It is very difficult to get rid of the thinking mode of exam oriented education and turn to the education mode that attaches importance to personality."
According to the report, for this reason, private schools in China have not only appeared in central cities, but all over the country. It fills the gap between the expectations of the emerging middle class for quality education and China's public education.
When Marianne Daquet founded Atelier Private Art School in Beijing, she made great progress from this trend. Previously, she initially tried to target local expatriates. Atelier School teaches a wide range of subjects, from oil painting to sculpture, mainly Chinese students aged 3 to 15. The courses are in the charge of English or French foreign teachers. Some older teenagers are applying to world famous art schools, such as Central St Martins in London and Beaux Arts in Paris.
"Chinese students come to us because the courses I provide can foster creativity," said Dakai. "This has nothing to do with the results. We want children to get real experiences. They will need these experiences in the future." Because of the demand for schools like Atelier, French Dakai opened a second school eight years after coming to Beijing. She now plans to expand to other cities in China.
The report said, of course, it is not cheap to go to private schools. However, parents are sure that their efforts will eventually pay off. Hurun Media Group, which publishes the annual list of China's richest people every year, has found through research on China's millionaires that China's wealthy are willing to invest 20% to 25% of their annual income in children's education.
The tuition fee paid by Ms. Lin's family in Taiwan for Angelina is 180000 yuan a year, and that of other private schools in Beijing is twice the price. In contrast, the annual cost of public schools is only 10000 yuan. This is because private schools in China not only open the door to international courses, but also provide opportunities for further study abroad and high paying jobs.
The report said that although parents may take different approaches, their goals and expectations for their children have not changed much. Most parents still hope their children can go to famous foreign universities. Most people want their children to study at Ivy League universities in the United States or Oxford and Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and hope that the investment can return.
According to the statistics released by the International Education Association, China studies in the United States (Weibo) The number of people increased to 274000 in 2014, compared with 60000 in 2004. This means that nearly one third of overseas students in the United States come from China.
