Private universities and online education providers tipped to benefit from Chinese government plan
‘The most important theme this year is investment in the development of private higher education institutions,’ says Li Wei, Sinolink Securities
Private universities, vocational schools, and online education platforms are being tipped by analysts to be among the biggest winners from China’s recently rolled out 13th Five-Year Plan on education, which bids to narrow the huge gap in standards between urban and rural areas of the country.
The blueprint, unveiled by the State Council, offers guidelines on educational development through to 2020. It’s focus, say officials, is on educational development in the central and western provinces and impoverished regions, ensuring “modern vocational education” opportunities to the vast rural population.
It particularly encourages private capital to be invested in setting up colleges and professional training schools, or to offer online education to students in remote rural areas.
“Educational reform is right on track,” and at the heart of government planning, said Li Wei, an equity analyst for Sinolink Securities, “and the most important theme this year is investment in the development of private higher education institutions”.
The government says its goal is to raise the percentage of school children moving onto higher education from 40 to 50 per cent, bringing the total to around 350 million and Wei thinks privately-run learning institutions will provide most of these additional places.