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The Ministry of Education came out with data on student financial aid for 2016, showing that financial aid to students in China continues to grow, particularly for the higher education sector. Meanwhile, livestreaming and online learning platforms continue to shake up the training industry, particularly for teachers, as can be seen by a recent trend of outstanding teachers quitting their classroom jobs to teach online. They are gaining both more independence and the potential to increase their income. Lastly, we explore how rapid changes in industry and talent shortages are pushing vocational institutes and enterprises to increase cooperation.
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Best,
Jemma Xu
Independent Education Partners | Tripalocal Group
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Please note that the articles below are summaries of Chinese media (all hyperlinked) and we have not independently verified the accuracy of the information. All views expressed below are those of the media cited and not necessary held by us.
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Policy and Regulatory Updates
Financial aid to Chinese students surpassed 160 billion RMB in 2016
The Ministry of Education released its “Development Report of Financial Aid to Chinese Students in 2016” on February 28, 2017. In 2016 the government refined its financial aid policies and improved its financial aid system. According to the report, in 2016, 91 million students received financial aid. This number covers all educational levels from preschool to higher education.
The amount of financial aid is rapidly growing, with the total amount of financial aid reaching 168 billion RMB in 2016, a 12.8 billion RMB increase from 2015. Aid to higher education students made up the majority of total aid at 95 billion RMB. In 2016 the government funds for free textbooks provided to compulsory education reached 20.4 billion RMB, affecting 128 million students. Going forward, tuition will be waived for high schools students whose families have financial difficulties, including disabled students and students whose family's main income is from social welfare.
In the vocational education sector, 33.21 billion RMB of financial aid was distributed among 15.02 million students. Financial aid in vocational education includes: waived tuition fees, national government funded aid, local government funded aid, school-funded aid, privately funded aid, and paid internships, with national government funded aid standing as the major source of aid.
In terms of higher education, 11.58 million students received financial aid in 2016. The aid was disturbed via several channels including national government funded aid, waived tuition fees for students from poor families, local government funded aid, school-funded aid, and privately funded aid. Universities also offer scholarships; in 2016, 8.75 million students received 21 billion RMB worth of scholarships, accounting for 21.99% of school-funded aid. Student loans are also available for higher education; 3.78 million people applied for student loans in 2016.
Original article (CN)
Education Technology and Innovation
Outstanding teachers increasingly moving to livestreamed courses
The trend of top teachers at private training organisations leaving to start their own education companies is changing due to the popularity of online platforms and livestreaming. As online education platforms and technology mature, outstanding teachers are turning to the internet to develop their careers, and the trend of internet celebrity teachers has emerged.
The main reason that teachers leave training companies such as New Oriental is due to heavy workloads and relatively low salaries. Teachers who are popular among students feel particularly exploited. Furthermore, opportunities for career development decrease after a few years in private training companies. Excellent and popular teachers therefore tend to become unsatisfied with traditional career trajectories. Online educational platforms give these teachers new career opportunities.
Online educational platforms are often more flexible in terms of time commitment and give teachers the majority of the revenue generated from each online course. The platforms perform most of the general operating jobs so that teachers can focus on providing high-quality courses, bringing in more revenue. In 2016, one teacher famously earned 250,000 RMB for a one-hour livestreamed course. Only outstanding and famous teachers tend to enjoy such high incomes from livestreamed courses. Teachers of online courses must also become adept at promoting their courses and themselves in order to garner enough students to stay in business.
Original article (CN)
Market Developments and Trends
Vocational institutes partner with enterprises to keep pace with industry
In the face of drastic changes to the education industry due to the increased use of technology and the internet, vocational institutes in China have struggled to keep pace. These institutes made great strides in establishing partnerships with enterprises in order to better foster their students’ ability to succeed in the marketplace.
This success can be partially credited to the relevant policies. China’s Ministry of Education has pushed for vocational institutes and enterprises to increase cooperation. Meanwhile, talent training has struggled to keep up with evolving talent needs. According to the latest McKinsey’s report on vocational institutes research, while China’s role as the largest low-skilled labor economy is over, its high-skilled labor will continue to grow. Training focused on developing practical skills will therefore need to be ramped up.
Vocational institutes are increasingly conducting some of the training within partner enterprises, which helps solve talent shortages while providing students with real world training. However, this kind of training remains at an exploratory stage without many studies on how effective on-the-job training is in relation to training in a classroom.
Original article (CN)
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ABOUT IEP
Independent Education Partners (IEP), the Chinese subsidiary of Tripalocal, aims to connect Chinese schools, students, teachers and parents with international educational and innovation experiences such as short-term study tours and longer term institutional partnerships, all with an underlying component in innovation and education technology. Originally founded in Australia, IEP's headquarter is in Beijing, China with offices in Sydney, Shanghai and Xi'an. IEP is currently working directly with over fifty Chinese schools as well as city and provincial level governments across China. Internationally, IEP works with universities, colleges educational departments and startup accelerators in Australia, New Zealand, US and the UK.
The IEP team is always on the lookout for new ideas and suggestions, please feel free to contact us.
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