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C
hina
B
riefing
·
Issue 167
·
August
2016
6
The Chinese education system’s rigid fixation on
standardized examinations further restrict what
forms of education are in demand for students
below the tertiary level. Despite these limitations,
there is robust demand for foreign education
services as highly competitive consumers value
the quality of overseas expertise.
While certain sectors of China’s education market
are highly saturated and extremely competitive,
such as English language training (ELT) schools
and preparatory schools for the Zhongkao, Gaokao,
and SAT exams, demand for other more specialized
education institutions is rising. Some of these are
specifically promoted by the government and
benefit from favorable policies, while others are
emerging due to the growing awareness and
spending power of Chinese consumers.
Vocational Education
The Chinese government recently pledged RMB
10 billion for the development of infrastructure for
new vocational schools, with local governments
supplying even more. There were 29.3 million
Chinese studying applied skills, such as technical
IT training and other trades, at vocational schools
and colleges in 2014, comprising 6.3 percent
of the education market. By 2020, the Chinese
government aims to have 38 million students in
vocational schools, but these schools are often
looked down upon in China, and the majority
of teachers are unqualified. As the government
pursues a growth model increasingly demanding
skilled labor, the development of vocational schools
into trustworthy sources of applicable skills and
knowledge is key. Such institutions are the only
formof education explicitly listed as encouraged for
investment, reflecting the need to attract services
in this area.
Early Childhood Education
Early childhood education, which covers education
for children below the age of three, is a promising
growth sector benefiting from rising disposable
income levels. Since 2009, China’s baby care
industry has grown by 55 percent per year,
demonstrating the willingness of Chinese families
to spend heavily on young children. While the
Chinese government is still focusing on increasing
enrollment in preschools and kindergartens, the
education market for children too young for these
institutions is growing. Due to the youth of these
children, such facilities must act as nurseries in
addition to providing early education. However,
China’s early childhood education sector suffers
from a lack of regulations and oversight. About 60
percent of early childhood education schools are
registered as consulting companies or educational
training centers and are not connected to the local
government’s education department. Some overly
ambitious schools promise to teach advanced
topics such as English and mathematics in early
preparation for future examinations despite the fact
that students are aged three or younger, and only
about 10 percent of teachers in early childhood
education institutions actually have teaching
certificates. These issues point to the need for
more formalized and higher quality education in
this sector.
Special Education
Special education is another field that is largely
absent in China. It is generally quite difficult for
students with physical and learning disabilities to
receive individualized education services tailored
to the unique challenges they face. Even accessing
general education services is often problematic, as
only about 72 percent of children with disabilities
enroll in school, compared to 99.6 percent of their
able-bodied peers. Special needs students who
participate in general education institutions are
often discriminated against or have their needs
misunderstood, and schools usually lack the
resources to care for them. Indeed, many children
with learning disabilities do not even have their
conditions recognized to begin with. Those with
speech and communication disorders, for example,
suffer from a lack of resources and qualified care. In
2010 therewere only about 1,000 speech-language
pathologists (SLPs) in all of China, many of which
were trained for under six months and sometimes
only two weeks. Support for students with physical
disabilities such as deafness is slightly better,
though the type of education they can pursue is
often limited and facilities lack accessibility. As
awareness of students’ special needs grows, there
will be increasing demand for specialized education
that cannot be provided bymainstream institutions.