eLearning China: Enter The Dragon

The time seems to be right to discuss eLearning opportunities in China. Indian vendors are bound to want to test the waters and explore opportunities in this vast country. So what are the opportunities and why will Indian companies want to set up shop in China:

• Indian vendors may want to service their US and European clients who may be expanding operations into China
• Indian vendors may want to create a base in China and service geographies such as Japan, South Korea & Taiwan
• Indian vendors may want to take a shot at tapping the domestic markets in China.

William J. Rothwell, author of “Scaling the Great Wall: Training in China,” which appeared December 2004’s issue of Training Magazine, comments,

“Assuming that China’s market is the same as the U.S. and marketing approaches that work in the U.S. will work in China is a mistake. Chinese people are more trusting of people who can speak their language and understand their culture, though they have great respect for Western expertise.”

Here are few more comments from experts in the article,
“It is important that multinational companies get away from thinking that one approach fits all cultures. Such thinking remains a common ground for complaint in China” - Xaozhen (Jenny) Yan, Director Motorola University, China.

“Only those with an innovative business model, carefully segmented marketing and specific quality delivery will prosper.” - Nick Arnold, President of Leadership for Life and Campus International.

But those who do their homework will prosper as it is estimated that by 2005, the e-learning market in China is projected to be worth $37 million. (Source: Training Magazine.)

As Rothwell points out, the Chinese say,” You can get anything you want in China--as long as you are patient enough to wait.” But although patience might be a virtue; prior knowledge is always gold.

In 2003, China’s 1,552 colleges and universities enrolled 3.8 million students for bachelor degrees, and over 220,200 students for master degrees and 48,700 for doctoral degrees. The National university entrance rate reached 19% in 2004. The country’s 558 adult higher learning institutions, for those who did not enter college, enrolled in more than 1.59 million students to teach skills in the agricultural, industrial, educational, medical, health, financial, and public security sectors. According to China’s Ministry of Education, more will be done within the next few years to develop vocational and adult education programs, serve regional economic and social development, and promote on-the-job and re-employment training programs.

American universities are very active in promoting American education in China. As of April 2004, there are over 137 Ministry of Education approved joint programs with foreign institutions. The United States is the destination of choice for Chinese who want to enroll in an MBA program. However, high costs, long absences from home and visa concerns make this choice somewhat difficult. Many of the programs are U.S. MBA programs. Presently, the U.S. leads the market in providing joint venture MBA and EMBA programs in China, but competition from European, Canadian and Australian organizations is increasing.

Many experts believe that e-learning is ideal for China because it solves much of China’s education needs. With its limited education resources, China can use long distance learning to educate its 200 million elementary and high school students. To that end, in October 2000 China’s Ministry of Education launched the “All Schools Connected” project, which will equip all of China’s 550,871 K-12 schools with e-learning systems by 2010. The Ministry also encouraged 67 top universities to offer e-learning degrees to produce more talent for the country’s burgeoning economy. The nation’s very best high schools can also create Internet schools to train teachers and tutor students in far-flung regions. Private companies also heeded the e-learning call, many now offer vocational training and certification exam preparation online.

Sources:
Jedlet.com Journal
BuyUSA

Comments

[thai]

Hi,

Do you happen to know who is the leader of online training in China? I hardly find such information. Any websites?

Thanks,

Thai.