Summerland,Penticton, Okanagan Success Stories and Happenings: What is Education’s place in our lives? In China “Education is King” – What is it to the BCTF (BC Teachers’ Federation) and to us here?

We have four children who will be home next week as the teachers in British Columbia Strike. Politics aside, what does education mean to us? My 16 year daughter will move to China this Summer and compete for what she values very much………….. what will you do?

Here is and excerpt from an investment newsletter that gives you a picture of what others are doing……….”I’M JUST SAYING”……..

With a population of 23 million in its city proper, Shanghai is one of the most populated cities on the planet. During the trip, throughout the day, I saw people of all kinds near my apartment and office. But except on Sundays, I rarely saw children in China’s biggest city. This is because throughout weekdays and some Saturdays, most children in Shanghai are either in school or some sort of extra-curricular program such as academic tutoring, playing piano, or learning English.

Most children in Shanghai work very hard. They leave their homes before 8 a.m. and often don’t get back until dinnertime. Kids do work this hard six days a week because their parents are afraid that they won’t be able to compete. I think there are three main reasons why Shanghai parents push their kids so hard:

1. Tough competition: Living in Mainland China’s largest and most cosmopolitan city, and competing for the limited resources there, is not easy for most middle and middle-upper class Chinese parents. Competition for real estate space and limited openings in good schools and jobs is fierce in any large international city, such as New York or London. In Shanghai, the competition is extra tough because average income there is only around US$12,000 a year, about a quarter that of Los Angeles, yet the cost of living is comparable to that of LA. Therefore, parents in Shanghai push their kids extra hard, because they know how tough it is in society and how easy it is to fall behind.

2. Cultural reasons: Historically, for 2,000 years, the best ticket out of poverty in China was to score well on the civil service exam and become a government official. Because of the cultural importance attributed to education in China, most middle class urban Chinese families still view it as the primary tool for upward social mobility. This causes Chinese parents to push their kids harder in school, and forms the basis of the “Tiger Mom” approach to parenting.

3. One child policy: Because of China’s one-child policy, which started in the early ’80s, most young people under 30 years-old are the only child in their family. Young parents, most likely the only child of the family themselves, and the four grandparents place all their future hopes of family glory on this sole child, leading families in Shanghai and other major cities to push their kids extra hard.

The extracurricular hard work pays off. In 2010’s worldwide evaluation of student performance, administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Shanghai students topped the charts across the board in math, science and reading, beating students from 65 countries. In the same test, American students ranked 25th in math, 17th in science and 14th in reading.

Source:

Robert Hsu
Editor, China Strategy