Shortage of English teachers in China: Opportunities for foreign organizations a

Posted by freemexy on November 8th, 2019

English teachers in China are very much in demand as language schools struggle to keep up with the growing English education consumption. Just over the period of a year, from 2016 to 2017, there was a 298% growth from 123.6 billion RMB to 489.7 billion RMB in the English Education market in China. English consumption is especially growing in tier 1 cities with Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou driving the market with the largest populations and GDPs in China. This is with an English penetration rate of 65%. This means that more than half of the citizens in these cities in 2017 received extra foreign education outside of school with 86.5% of this learning being focused on the English language. Further, China’s English education market size is estimated to reach almost double of the figures in 2017, reaching 947 billion RMB in 2019.teaching jobs in China international school
There are an estimated 100,000 English teachers needed in China which are expected to increase further over the next few years. This consumption of English is important as English class is compulsory in China’s primary schools from their third year for a period of four years, middle school for a period of six years as well as in the first two years of university. This adds up to more than 2,000 hours studying English which is more than any other course. As a result, 60% of English teachers in Primary schools in China teach more than 50 students in one class and 90% of middle schools teach more than 40 students. This need to learn English has to lead to a large quantity of kindergarten and private schools now offering to teach English to young children in China. This is in order to start English education as early as possible as parents seek the best teachers in order for their children to begin school more competitively. Further, the slowing down economy has increased the need for children to get the best education in order to get jobs. Consequently, many places hiring English teachers are raising salaries, offering more benefits and following regulations in order to lure teachers away from Japan and South Korea to cater to this demand.
Parents are very particular about their children’s English teachers in China as they look for highly skilled and experienced tutors and value their children’s view of their teachers. North American Teachers are particularly in demand from Chinese parents. This is as parents believe that North Americans have good pronunciation and lively teaching method styles which will help keep their children engaged. Moreover, many parents hope their children will study in the US or Canada in the future.

Further, the nationality of the teacher, that is, whether or not they are from a popular English speaking country is important to parents. This is as the type of English teacher they can afford is an indicator of social status. Consequently, hiring a foreigner is a privilege and gives them social status recognition from their peers. As a result, even though a skilled Chinese native is perfectly capable of teaching English, parents still prefer foreigners due to the social implications it has for them. Moreover, parents sometimes prefer an English teacher from a popular country, where English is their second language, such as Russia, over non-popular countries. As such, whilst parents place substantial weight on teachers’ skills and experience, along with their child’s opinion of the teacher, there is also a significant focus on the teacher’s nationality which is viewed as indicative of quality and social status.

With parents as the drivers of demand, they are very willing to spend a substantial amount of money on their children in order to allow them a better future. This is evident as 13 billion RMB is spent by Chinese parents yearly for education outside of school as a whole. As a result, a large amount of household income for families is spent on language classes for their children. This is evident as 73% of parents surveyed revealed that they spent at least 10,000 RMB, that is 1,580 US dollars, on English classes per year. As the Chinese market, consumer segmentation is currently shifting from adults to young children as parents are spending more on their children’s education instead of their own.

This is as parents mainly only need to learn English due to professional requirements of their job which necessitates them improving their English skills or their want to learn English in order to reach new career goals or improve their personal life. Other reasons may include an aim to become a Chinese teacher, for a promotion, the improvement of skills for future career development, for the improvement of social status, for business travel or a long-term transfer abroad or for personal comfort when traveling abroad. However, many adults in these categories do not have or have few family expenses and are likely single unless they are studying for necessity. This is as families main concern is on their children’s education in order to give them the best start in life. Further, this trend can be seen in that ESL (English as a Second Language) schools were first created to teach English to adults, but as demand has shifted towards children, educators and schools have adapted their teaching methods and systems accordingly.