Profitability of Establishing an International School in Mainland China - Essay Example

Topic: To study the feasibility and profitability of establishing an international school in Mainland China CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 2.0. INTRODUCTION Provision of quality education is considered the core responsibility of any sovereign state to all her citizens. This duty has been vested on the authorities of the concerned state. English language has become an acclaimed language of instruction in almost all institutions of learning internationally and therefore proficiency in it becomes mandatory. Many studies have been done on how best to provide education to all people both indigenous and expatriates. Many of these studies have suggested the establishment of international schools as the only viable solution (as cited in Feagles, 1999 and Reed, l988). Reed (l988) in her study of Education in the People's Republic of China and U.S underscored the importance of having international schools in China to cater for educational requirements of children of expatriate parents working in the country. Similarly, Fuldien (as cited in Hammond, 2007) demonstrated how the presence of English Schools Foundation (ESF) in Hong Kong has contributed to the education sector by providing high quality and cost-effective education through the use of English as the medium of instruction. This chapter presents review of the literature of studies done on the feasibility and profitability of establishing an international school in the emerging cities in Mainland China. The chapter is divided into various headings for easier presentation of the literature review. 2.1. CHINESE EDUCATION SYSTEM. The Chinese education system is lauded as one having the longest history in the world. Available documented evidence indicates that the Chinese practice of education developed from the imperial civil examination system introduced in the early 7th century (as cited in Feagles, 1999). This type of examination system was devised exclusively as a mechanism for choosing and enlisting aspirants for the official system of government of the time and was found to identify only worthiness, competition and valor. Paver and Wang (1992) explain that this instrument was considered a powerful tool built upon social ambitions rather than individual concerns and therefore made examinations the only gauge for future success and achievement. This system has been found to strongly influence the education systems of Chinese communities to date, while still emphasizing the educational values highly esteemed by both parents and students (Paver and Wang, 1992). Reed (l988) in her study reported that the Chinese education system is found to be a mixture of two cultures namely the Chinese culture and the British culture. She maintains that the British culture is responsible for the establishment of elite schools. These elite schools are accordingly sponsored and managed by the major religious bodies such as the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the Church of Christ in China and the Methodist Church (all cited in Reed, l988). Moreover, the regal social examination system laid down in the 7th century has inculcated certain values in the Chinese people which are seen to strongly influence the nature almost all the local schools and the elite schools in Hong Kong. Available studies further argue that this culture inculcated by the system have been responsible to produce all round students and graduates in the world (Kennedy, l977). The consequence of this argument is demonstrated in global comparisons of student achievements. Aanenson (1979) illustrates that Chinese students mainly from Hong Kong are always positioned amongst the top. Apart from fostering the spirit of hard-work and competitiveness, the Chinese tradition also underscores the importance of moral education which very much differs from the concept of morality as perceived in the Western countries (Reed, l988). The concept of moral education as recognized by the Chinese puts into account virtually all characteristics of education including but not exhaustively ethics, values, norms and possibly leadership qualities. These characteristics are also represented in the expansive learning experiences and student independence incorporated in the structure of the elite schools. This issue of morality in education has therefore made Hong Kong's elite schools practically exceptional in fulfilling the expectations of both British and Chinese cultures (Paver and Wang, 1992). From this conceptualization, it is evident that the Chinese education system is propelled on two types of schools namely the elite schools and the local schools. While the elite schools have already been explained, the local schools may be taken to literally mean the opposite of international schools that have been witnessed to thrive in Hong Kong in the past few years (Feagles, 1999). Another meaning proffered by Archer (as cited in Kennedy, l977 ) equates local schools with primitivism more so after the government made the public school education system compulsory for all Hong Kong children for nine years. However, the multiplication of secondary education to the general population over time, the education system in Hong Kong has seen an increasing disparity among its schools. The forbearance of extraordinary disparity is perhaps part and parcel of the culture for worthiness, but it is reinforced by the student allocation system found in Hong Kong. This student allocation allows primary school leavers to be classified according to their academic merit and allows those with the highest academic abilities to be allocated to the more popular schools (Paver and Wang, 1992). It is because of this culture for worthiness that has seen the elite schools being most appreciated by parents and only comparable to the best public schools in other systems elsewhere making them international schools by design (Kennedy, l977). Also, there are schools in China that find themselves in great difficulty when trying to cope with a student population that is increasingly diverse and from increasingly complex backgrounds (Kennedy, l977). Consequently, this has necessitated the demand for international schools in China. 2.2. HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS. An international school is any school capable of handling students of all nationalities from all parts of the world. (Feagles, 1999) argues that the establishment of an international school in any sovereign state is necessitated by the presence of expatriates in that state. These schools have been found to be a success in Hong Kong, China under the umbrella name of English Schools Foundation. Fuldien (as cited in Hammond, 2007) reveals that the English Schools Foundation is an organisation in Hong Kong founded in 1967. Paver and Wang (1992) further point out that the foundation runs close to twenty educational establishments in Hong Kong thus making it the largest international educational foundation in Asia. Another argument by Kennedy (l977) stipulates that the cardinal aim of the foundation is to provide a "modern liberal education" through the medium of English to all the citizens in the Diaspora. Since its inception in 1967, it can be strongly argued that the English Schools Foundation has grown tremendously from just two schools to the current twenty including a few new ones which have been purpose-built over time to meet growing demand (Paver and Wang, 1992). It cannot pass notice that the ESF was founded to meet the needs of various ethnic groups of students drawn from local residents of Hong Kong, Europeans and other nearby Asian countries (Aanenson, 1979). At the same time, it is worth of notice that most of the foundation's students have parents who are permanent residents of Hong Kong composed of probably of over 50 different nationalities. Aanenson (1979) points out that the curriculum which is too parochial on Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific region is poised to change and adapt to the UK, Australian and other international school systems. In addition, it has been reported that school facilities in all these ESF schools are safe, secure and of the highest standards. The ESF schools have been found to be too beneficial as demonstrated by (Reed, l988) who argues that they offer high academic standards and the excellent achievements as witnessed in their students who join leading universities worldwide by more than 95%. The ESF schools are in plans to change the traditionally British based curriculum to a more international one. It has also been reported that the foundation receives an ongoing subsidy from the Hong Kong Government which makes them popular with most parents. Furthermore, the schools have progressively improved their facilities, especially in ICT with the help of donations from Parent Teacher Associations (Hammond, 2007). On one hand, the foundation has been dogged with many controversies especially on the issue of Government subsidy where unlike most other international schools in Hong Kong, the ESF run schools receive an ongoing subsidy from the Hong Kong Government. Hammond (2007) argues that the reason for this is historical and lies in the foundation's statutory basis and therefore should not be an item of discussion. The studies done have found that there is a difficulty in placing children in the International schooling system in Hong Kong partly because the market has outwitted the supply. Aanenson (1979) maintains that some parents favor the syllabus and technique used in the International system while others think that it is better for a student who will attend an overseas university to have exposure to the International system at the primary or secondary level. These reasons among others make individuals prefer an International education to a local one. All this implies that the English Schools Foundation and those long-established private International schools are too popular and as such are full to capacity and even have waiting lists (Hammond, 2007). This argument leads to the dissertation's validity to study the feasibility and profitability of establishing an international school in the Mainland China. 2.3. FEASIBILITY AND PROFITABILITY OF ESTABLISHING AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL IN MAINLAND CHINA There are many international schools in Hong Kong. In fact their total surpasses the expatriate population of the city. The attendants of these schools are drawn from the local families in China. Although these schools levy exorbitant fees, they are very popular with parents whose children cannot get admission into local elite schools but would otherwise not go study overseas. Consequently, the international schools have effectively become the best alternatives (Reed, l988). Studies have shown that most emerging cities in mainland China have transformed themselves over the past two decades from a manufacturing-based economy to one that is now dominated by the services sector. In particular, the liberalisation of the betting industry in 2002 has seen substantial investments which have in the whole boosted the economy, chiefly in the construction, hotel and tourism sectors as illustrated by Hammond (2007). He further points out that these cities have grown tremendously to the point of having one of the most vibrant economies in the world. In addition, Hammond (2007) has forwarded an argument that these cities are home to close to about 750,000 expatriates and other foreigners. All these residents are in dire need of education of international standards. From the foregoing, it can be upheld that there is enough substantial ground to viably establish an international school in mainland China particularly in the emerging cities. Documentary evidence show that the services sector in these cities account for around 90 per cent of the GDP. This in the author's view is enough revenue to sustain several international schools in Mainland China. In addition to these revenues, it has been established that the government can now afford to ask for fairly low taxes, thereby attracting more private investors (Kennedy, l977). Traditionally, the private sector has been considered the key economic mover, aided by information technology development, as demonstrated by Hammond (2007) in his study of Macau city. Moreover, diversification of the economy in Mainland China is a bold step to try and give it security as opposed to relying too heavily on any one single industry. Aanenson (1979) points out that the advancement of loan schemes for small and medium-sized enterprises is one of the underlying incentives used by the government. To cap it all, the emerging cities in Mainland China have seen an upsurge in ICT infrastructure, an argument forwarded by Hammond (2007) in his study. He further explains that nearly all telecommunication services in the city were provided through single sourcing but has now been somewhat liberalized. This in one hand has been successful in expanding communications infrastructure, particularly mobile and Internet services. It thus becomes the contention of the author to believe that this liberalization is poised to go a long way in supporting the establishment of international schools in the emerging cities in Mainland China (Hammond, 2007). Finally, there are facilitating policies that make the emerging cities in Mainland China fertile grounds for establishment of international schools. For instance the Science and Technology Development Fund set up in 2004 according to Hammond (2007) aims to promote new technologies and enhance scientific knowledge. The fund further provides subsidy for science-related education, research and project development which may be key decision maker in whether or not to establish an international school. On the other hand, it has been the government strategy to uphold the idea of lasting learning through occupational schooling and retraining within the community. In view of all this, the author strongly believes it will be quite beneficial to establish an international school in Mainland China. On the issue of profitability, research findings have shown that the Chinese government has recognized the extent to which studying overseas has been an economic drain to the country. Reed (l988) has further demonstrated that studying abroad cannot simply realize its goals without calling for foreign assistance. Thus to offset this economic outflow due to financing overseas education, it is imperative for the Chinese government to establish its own international schools particularly in the Mainland China. This can be further supported by the fact that there is supplementary funding available for states capable of meeting the set criteria for English language training from the Canadian government as found out by Aanenson (1979) in his study of the Republic of Indonesia. If therefore China could capitalize on this and establish as many international schools as possible, it could benefit from this venture immediately. From the premise therefore, it is evident that Hong Kong has made strident steps in ensuring that English language has been fully developed. To this effect, the government has shown remarkable financial obligation through sponsoring the Professional Development Incentive Grant Scheme for Language Teachers and the Teacher Language Proficiency Training Program (as cited in Hammond, 2007). From the review of the related literature, it can be maintained that a lot has been done in China particularly Hong Kong in regards to the provision of education at the international level to a great success. Exemplary studies done on the Chinese education system have indicated that various international schools have been found to flourish in Hong Kong with the potential of doing even better. It is from these initiatives that the author of this dissertation stipulates that it is highly feasible and profitable to establish an international school in Mainland China. References: Aanenson, Charles R. (1979). Republic of Indonesia: A Study of the Educational System of the Republic of Indonesia and a Guide to the Academic Placement of Students from the Republic of Indonesia in Educational Institutions of the United States. Washington, D.C: The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers (AACRAO). Feagles, Shelley M. (1999). A Guide to Educational Systems Around the World. Washington, D.C.: NAFSA. Hammond, S. (2007). Bold steps in Macau. Computerworld, Hong Kong. Kennedy, Patrick. J. (l977). The Republic of China (Taiwan): A Study of the Educational System of the Republic of China and a Guide to the Academic Placement of Students in Educational Institutions of the United States. Washington, D.C.: AACRAO. Paver, W. J. and Wang, Yiping. (1992). Postsecondary Institutions of the People's Republic of China: A Comprehensive Guide to Institutions of Higher Education in China. Washington, D.C.: AACRAO and NAFSA. Reed, Linda A. (l988). Education in the People's Republic of China and U.S.-China Educational Exchanges. Washington, D.C.: NAFSA. Read More