Originally published in the April 2009 Edition of EuroBiz

Since the introduction of what was possibly the world’s first national curriculum 1,400 years ago, the Sui Dynasty’s Imperial Exams, Chinese families have viewed education as essential for their children’s future. Thus it is no surprise that the squalls of Chinese economic and social change have affected education too, with the arrival of international schools and the re-introduction of private education.

For a communist state this was initially an anathema and the private schools appearing in the 90s hid behind the moniker ‘Experimental school’, these are mostly prevalent in Shenzhen, Shanghai and the coastal areas between – the very regions that felt China’s new wealth first.

Of course, the label Experimental merely means private school and the curriculum remains mostly the same as state schools, complete with political study. However, the exclusivity and admissions policies of these schools enable the same benefits that are available to private schools the world over: that the students are from motivated and well-fed middle classes, and that the teachers can be chosen and incentivised in a business-like way.

Indeed the incentivisation of teachers in China is quite interesting and holds a mirror up to Chinese education as a whole. Teachers are judged on - and quite often paid bonuses relating to - students’ results. Bonuses are especially common in the later grades, where entrance to University is decided by exam and the reputation of the school is on the line. This culture can lead to a ‘teach to the test’ mentality, with the issues that can arise from that; this educator has seen English assessments from Chinese local education authorities that punish certain correct answers as they are not the precise ones the examiner had in mind when setting the test. All the students are trained to avoid those particular right answers and give another.

Simultaneously as these changes were happening in the local education market an international education market sprang up to serve incoming expatriates as multinationals needed to promise their families exact same standard of living and education in order to persuade their staff to relocate.

To promise the exact same curriculum means to operate an educational island; teaching about American or British history and geography to the exclusion of the history and geography available directly outside the school walls. Additionally those students without foreign passports are forbidden by law to attend. These islands, little Britains and little Americas, do deliver to a very high standard; the facilities are superb and the teachers hugely experienced.

The fees are stratospheric however: three years at Harvard University is cheaper than three years at any of China’s 10 most expensive international schools.

This sort of cost is something a well-funded multinational can afford, but as multinationals are less well-funded these days and China’s first-tier cities have become less of a hardship posting, expatriate packages are becoming less generous. This is assisting the rise of education models that are between these two options.

Bilingual schools and local schools with International Streams have sprung up all over China. These schools are Chinese owned but sometimes run by western administrators and staff offering truly international education, in other words including aspects from the host country – China.

Read more on bilingual schools in the next post.

Bilingual schools and local schools with International Streams often have several models co-existing on the same campus: one school offers both the Chinese national curriculum and the International Baccalaureate (IB) on the same campus; another school offers the Chinese curriculum, a Korean curriculum and the English curriculum on the same campus; and yet another school offers 4 different streams depending on the intensity of Chinese or English education required by the parent.

This leads to a great amount of choice, driven by the market, both inside a school and between schools. The costs are much lower than the ‘island’ international schools and the Chinese curriculum aspects open up Chinese language and culture options. Moreover, having access to the world renowned Chinese maths curriculum is highly prized by many.

One way to deliver these choices is Bilingual education, which when done well is an amazing thing to see, with students able to switch between English and Chinese effortlessly and, with those schools that offer the IB, conduct inquiry and research in both languages. Issues with school transfer can arise with this model however, as opposed to international schools that prize their ability to transfer students to and from the school: A student studying 6th Grade English National Curriculum should be able to slot directly into the English Curriculum 7th Grade whether it is taught in Shanghai, Birmingham or Abu Dhabi. Those with a more bespoke bilingual education can have more problems with transfer between schools.

A possible answer to this transfer issue is the IB. The IB Diploma, taken before entry to university, is internationally recognized and a good result can admit a student into the best western universities. The IB also certifies schools to run the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) and the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP). These IB ‘World Schools’ are one the fastest growing segments of international education, with a programme that is globally recognized and accredited. Indeed, many national curriculums are borrowing aspects of the IB. Therefore transfer from IB school to IB school is easier, and, due to the focus on learning how to learn, the transfer back to a national curriculum should also be easier.

The IB is not generally applicable to Chinese mainlanders as they must study the Chinese curriculum, however they do have access to Bilingual schools and are the largest customer segment in that market. In addition Chinese mainlanders with foreign passports are a growing segment of the international school market. Further, China’s international school market has enticed the South Koreans who have relocated to China in droves.

The many different nationalities, over 30 in some schools, present interesting and challenging cultural differences. A parent coming from Finland will have a much different expectation of education to a parent from China. In addition there are many ‘third culture kids’ who may have studied for only a short time in their country of birth but may also not be entirely at home in China. All of this presents a unique challenge to educators trying to set and meet expectations across cultural boundaries. A particular hot topic is homework: a western parent may prefer a child to have time to play and socialize with other children, whereas an Asian parent may prefer hours of homework per night to ensure that the child achieves highly.

All of this means that parents in China have access to an incredibly diverse, yet sometimes confusing, education market. However, these cultures coming to China present a unique chance in education for ‘east meets west’; to take the best ideas from both sides of the planet and ensure students are truly global in their outlook, learning from an international curriculum. Something their peers from the Sui Dynasty could not dream of.