The Ministry of Education estimates that the educational training services industry in China was worth around 960 billion yuan by 2012. (Photo : www.echinacities.com)
Sending children on study tours overseas is one of the latest parenting trends in China, with at least 100,000 Chinese children being sent to the United States this year alone.
The study tours usually come in the form of different types of summer camps, including outdoor adventure camps and art camps. There are also several parents sending their children to short-term study programs overseas.
The trend indicates that students are being sent to study abroad at a much younger age than before, paving the way for these children to pursue advanced studies and maybe emigrating in the future.
According to a research report published in Jan. 2014, an increasing number of middle-school students have been sent overseas for further study. The study also noted that the number of elementary-school students leaving the country to study is also increasing.
In 2013, the same report noted that nearly 40 percent of the total number of Chinese students overseas was made up of middle-school and elementary-school pupils.
Various overseas study tours and summer camps for sightseeing and visiting schools are being provided to meet the growing demand of younger children wanting to study overseas.
The usual cost of sending a student to attend a two- to four-week overseas study camp is between 20,000 and 40,000 yuan ($3,200-$6,400).
The trend has given a boost to U.S. tourism, especially because parents often accompany their children during these tours.
Overseas property markets have also benefitted, with Chinese parents interested in buying houses in countries where their children study, either for their own use or to be leased to help them immigrate to the country in the future.
According to the government of the United Kingdom, among international students, young Chinese students were among the largest group studying in the U.K. from 2009-2014, comprising 15 percent of the total.
