Despite a recent reform lessening the value of English in the national college entrance examinations, private schools aren't bracing for a downturn in business. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Christmas Eve is usually a busy time for last-minute gift shopping, but stores in a mall near Beijing's West Third Ring Road in Maliandao had relatively few customers on Tuesday night. By contrast, nearby English training center Nice World Education was teeming with excited children and adults.

Young teachers dressed as Santa Claus taught Christmas vocabulary to students as several mothers waited in another classroom watching a promotional video for the center's Harvard English program. 

A mother in her late 30s turned to a woman next to her to ask, "Does this mean our children will one day be smart enough to attend Harvard University?" Despite asking in jest, her question revealed the shared ambition of many Chinese parents who view English as a gateway to their children's future academic success.

Recent proposals and reforms have reignited debate about the value of English-language education in Chinese schools. In November, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education announced that English classes would be scrapped from the curriculum for grades one and two from 2014.

In October, the Ministry of Education released a draft set of reforms for the gaokao (national college entrance exams) that included axing English as a test subject. Students can instead take English tests organized by private schools more than once a year, with only the highest score to be cited as a reference for college admissions.

China has been gripped by "English fever" over the past decade, resulting in booming business for the more than 50,000 private English training centers nationwide worth a reported 30 billion yuan ($494.13 million). Centers run by commercial educational giants including New Oriental, Disney English and Wall Street English can be found within malls, residential compounds and on busy streets in Beijing, but the government's push to lessen emphasis on English in schools could limit their appeal and profitability.

Meeting market demand

There are three main target markets for commercial English training centers. The first is prospective overseas university students who hope to pass standardized exams, including the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The second is adults and professionals who primarily want to learn business English for career purposes. The third and most profitable target market is children, some of whom are as young as 2 or 3.

Cai Lin from CI Consulting, which recently conducted a study on predicted trends over the next five years for China's English training industry, said it's unlikely the government's reforms will deal a blow to the private education sector.

"Instead, it will provide opportunities for English training centers to shift their emphasis from preparing students for exams to cultivating their real ability," she explained.

"English training for high school and university students who want to study overseas won't be affected because in future there will be more Chinese students heading abroad for higher education. There is rigid demand from parents for children to have strong English proficiency to make them more competitive."

Xu Zhihua, general manager of the Harvard English program at Nice World Education in Maliandao, said enrollments haven't declined in the months since the government signaled moves to reform English-language education.

"We haven't seen demand to learn English lessen or any other changes since the reforms were announced," said Xu, 37.

 "Because Beijing primary schools are set to cancel English for grades one and two, it is possible that parents will step up their children's English studies at private training centers."

Wang Ming, another manager of the Harvard English program, joined Nice World Education in 2008 when its first training center opened after leaving New Oriental.

"When I worked in the marketing department of New Oriental, I saw rapid expansion of children enrolling and realized this was a booming industry," said Wang, 28, "The number of students at the Maliandao center has risen rapidly since 2008, when we were the only English training center in the area. Now, we have at least eight nearby competitors." 

Nice World Education now operates five centers in Haidian, Xicheng and Fengtai districts and Langfang, Hebei Province. Its Maliandao center has more than 500 enrolled students and over 20 English teachers from China and abroad.

A young girl gets into the Christmas spirit by wearing reindeer antlers during a class on December 24 at an English training center in Maliandao, Xicheng district. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Revising teaching methods

Xu, an education graduate of the University of Florida, said China has yet to develop a "localized way for children to learn English" that differs from universal teaching methods.

Xu believes commercial English schools in China will follow the lead taken by Japan and South Korea by increasing their proportion of teachers who are native English speakers.

"There aren't enough native English-speaking teachers who are able to stay in China for a long period to develop a systematic, localized English teaching methodology," he said. "But as the yuan's value straightens, more foreign English teachers will come to China to settle down and pursue long-term career goals. Improving the standard of teachers will lift the quality of English teaching."

In November, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education banned students below 12 from taking part in the Graded Examination in Spoken English (GESE), which used to be favored by many elite middle schools in choosing candidates.

Xu said Nice Education World would continue basing some of its teachings around the GESE syllabus because "many dialogues of the oral test are set in a Chinese context identifiable in daily life."

Pressure to excel in tests

Education authorities' purpose of reducing English at schools is to allow parents to decide what is best for their children, according to Xu.

"In the past, schools decided when and what students should learn. Now, parents should make their decision and assess the importance of English among other curriculum subjects," he said.

Among parents at Nice World Education's Maliandao center on Tuesday was a woman surnamed Wang, who attentively watched her 7-year-old daughter play games with classmates during their lesson. Wang said her daughter has attended weekly classes at the center since she was 4.

Wang said the government's education reforms wouldn't diminish the importance she and other parents attach to their children's English studies. "Most children of my colleagues and friends attend after-school English classes. Some of my colleagues even have children who attend daily English classes," she said.

Learning English at private schools is necessary because children's ability to learn is best tested outside of regular school, Wang said when asked of the importance of attaining certification of tests they offer.

Wang plans to send her daughter to math Olympiad classes and other after-school courses once she reaches middle school. "Chinese students have a really tiring childhood," Wang sighed. "But then again, Chinese parenthood is also tiring."

Mengmeng (pseudonym), an 11-year-old grade-six student at the Elementary School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, one of Beijing's most exclusive primary schools, had never attended a private school up until recently because his parents believed it to be unnecessary.

Mengmeng's mother, surnamed Jing, looked into several private schools at Haidian district some years ago before deciding none were worth it.

But faced with pressure to perform well in English tests to get into a good middle school, Mengmeng recently began one-to-one classes with a private tutor.

"Getting a good score is important because it will influence his confidence in learning English," Jing said.

Although the English curriculum has come under threat from education authorities, teachers at public schools beyond Beijing remain committed to their courses. "Our daily teaching schedules haven't changed," said Zhou Yuzhuang, a high school English teacher in Chongqing.

"The purpose of reforms is to reduce students' burden in learning English and their gaokao pressure. It is also good for teachers, who shoulder pressure in helping students get the best possible test scores. China has become used to training students to excel in exams, regardless of whether it is the gaokao, TOEFL or IELTS."