Chinese international schools a ‘risk’ for UK outposts
New Chinese international schools could threaten UK institutions’ overseas outposts
By Irena Barker, Digital Editor, School Management Plus
British schools with branches abroad could face competition from a planned network of Chinese international schools “all over the world’” an expert has said.
A Chinese government policy to open international schools worldwide is expected to come to fruition in 2029, said Julian Fisher, co-founder of Beijing-based market intelligence agency Venture Education and chair of the British Chamber of Commerce in China.
Since the policy was announced in 2019, the Chinese government has opened the first Chinese international school overseas in Dubai, offering a Chinese public school curriculum and the gaokao university entrance exam.
The new schools would serve the families of millions of Chinese people based overseas and enable expatriate children to learn Chinese heritage, language, history and culture.
Mr Fisher told the International Private Schools Education Forum (IPSEF) in London: “That will be the first of many. We say in the British Chamber that when the Chinese government sets something out, you’ve got 10 years until it really hits you. So we’re five years in. By 2029, you’re going to see these all over the world.”
He warned that this could mean that other international schools’ strategies for admissions may not work in future.
He said: “A lot of schools have opened around Asia because they plan to fill them with Chinese students, you have to worry about that model going forward.
“You’ve also got to think what does this mean in terms of competition?”
He said it was “worth considering” that perceptions of China were different in different parts of the world.
“So if you’re thinking about opening schools in the Global South, it might be worth considering that in the years to come, your competition isn’t going to be from other British schools, it’s going to be Chinese schools and what would that mean in terms of risk?”
He said the potential march of Chinese international schools was different to competition from others such as the French Lycée system, for example.
“I think what’s different with China is they’re the second biggest economy on earth, they want to be the pre-eminent power on this planet.
“It won’t just be about educating their own citizens, I think that over time it will be a hybrid: the government schools for Chinese students with families overseas that are going to return to China [and] it will also be Chinese private organisations that will be going overseas and that I think is where there’s going to be the real competition.”
Mr Fisher’s comments came after Venture Education published a report on the issue called Disruption.
It says the Chinese government’s development of K-12 schools overseas is primarily intended to support the educational needs of Chinese students abroad. It will also raise the profile of Chinese education and support economic development.
In the past 10 years, China has developed over 1000 “Chinese Assisted Schools”, mostly in Africa, that are funded by the Chinese government or a Chinese company and are intended for local people, the report says.
Chinese investors now control a growing list of UK private schools, including Chase Grammar School and Thetford Grammar School.
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