Educational Challenges and Choices in Modern Urban China

Old, New, and In Between:

Educational Choices and Challenges for China’s Modern Middle Class

Presented by Monica LeMoineHighline Community College, 2013

Spring quarter, 2013, we went to China. (Thank you, Highline Community

College!)

JANECollege Professor

SUNNYCollege Professor

STELLACorporate Sales

SHARONCollege Professor

We made amazing new friends, including some modern Shanghai mothers.

A bit of their perspective on education in China today…

• Population: 1.3 Billion (four times the U.S. population)

• Wealth: Second largest economy in the world.

• Tradition: Emphasis on obedience and harmony. “Culture is based on the primacy of…individual obligations, not rights or freedoms.”

A Bit About China…

1976: death of Communist Chairman Mao.

1978: Start of “The Reform” period: rapid urbanization, modernization, and economic growth. Private entrepreneurs & foreign investors allowed to do business. One-child policy enforced.

Late 1970s: Start of “Opening Up to the West”

Poverty rate falls from 80% to 10%.

Quality of life and household income improves for nearly all Chinese.

Middle class booms: 60% of urban households (more than entire population of the U.S.) now considered “middle class,” earning $10-60K per year (although that’s only 20% of total population)

Huge Growth: 1978-Present

CHINA TODAY:

Largest consumer market for automobiles, digital cameras, laptops, Louis Vuitton handbags and Rolls Royce vehicles in the world.

Biggest foreign holder of U.S. debt.

Is now the “top country of origin” for foreign students in America.

Meal for 2, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course 55.00 $     40.75 $     

Gym membership 50 $     50 $     

Movie ticket 11 $   16 $     

1 pair Levis jeans 45 $   130 $     

Cappuccino (regular) 3.50 $     4.56 $     

1 pair Nike shoes 90 $    130 $     

Apartment rent (3 bedroom, city center) 2,500$   2,400 $     

Condo buy (city center, price per square meter) 4,900 $     7,300 $     

Mortgage interest rates 3.25% 6.25%     

Annual tuition, full-time private kindergarten 15,000 $   18,000$     

Cost of the “Middle Class Lifestyle”Shanghai purchasing power 61% lower than average Seattle household

Seattle Shanghai

One-Child Policy• “better educated,

achievement-oriented citizens who are accelerating China’s modernization”

• Nearly all young families are “four-two-one” families: four grandparents, two parents, one child.

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS

In 2005, the Chinese government passed a law promoting the operation of private schools (including international and American schools) to help shoulder the burden of

educating its population.

2001 20130

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Number of Inter-national Schools in

China • HIGH DEMAND: Demand for “American-style” private education continues to soar.

• COSTLY: Many schools charge over $30,000 a year. China ranks 9th in the world for most expensive private education tuition.

• HIGH PERCEIVED PRESTIGE: American school education is a “new must-have for the upwardly mobile” in China. – The Atlantic

Poor/Low-

Income(Less than

$10,000)

80%

Middle Class ($10-60,000)

20%

Wealthy ($60-100,000)

<1%

Super-Rich (More than $100,000)

<1%

China Yearly Household Income 2012

Sharon

Jane

Sunny

Neither Jane nor Sharon can afford private education for their children, despite being considered “middle class,” so their sons go – or will be

soon going – to public school.

Sharon speaks a bit more about China’s culture of obedience, as it relates to educational opportunity.

Meet Janice, principal of Bright Start Academy.

A typical classroom moment at Bright Start…

Private “American Style” School: Bright Start

Academy

Sunny can afford an expensive private school for her daughter, Angela. Let’s hear a bit more about Sunny’s daughter and her life.

Education as a Historical Channel

for Upward Mobility

• Historically, exam success in classical Chinese literature and character granted title as a government official.

Ming Dynasty era (1368-1644) portrait of a degree-holding

“scholar official”

“Public education system, which in many ways reflects ancient Confucian principles, places an overwhelming emphasis on memorization, recitation, and examination.” (New York Times)

The final year of high school is devoted almost entirely to the gaokao, the nationwide college entrance examination.” (Forbes Magazine)

Public middle school classroom in Haiyuan, north

central China.

EXTREME PRESSURE: “In a country where education is so highly prized, the score that a student earns (on gaokao) is believed to set the course of one’s life.” -New York Times

TOUGH COMPETITION:

Peking University in Beijing: students have a .5% chance of getting in, compared to Harvard’s acceptance rate of 5.9%.

Gaokao: College Entrance Exam

Students leaving town for gaokao exam site.

“The emphasis on entrance exams in China…induces widespread fear and frustration, leading more and more parents from elite families to look for alternatives, like sending their children abroad.” --The New York Times

Suicide is the number one killer of Chinese under age 35; twenty-five percent of Chinese high school students have contemplated suicide due to academic pressure -The China Daily

“Defenders of the gaokao, which has its roots in the imperial exam system, say the test is a crucial component in a meritocracy, allowing students from poorer backgrounds or rural areas to compete for spots in top universities.”

-New York Times

Jane and Sharon share their thoughts.

How has “The Reform” of the last thirty years affected the educational experience

of China’s children?

“China Anxiety”“China Anxiety” - “For China's emerging middle class, this is an age of aspiration—but also a time of anxiety. Opportunities have multiplied, but each one brings pressure to take part and not lose out, and every acquisition seems to come ready-wrapped in disappointment that it isn't something newer and better…45 percent of Chinese urban residents are at health risk due to stress, with the highest rates among high school students.” National Geographic

The End