More than 500,000 Chinese high school students to take part in expensive overseas study tours
More than half a million mainland pupils hope to broaden their horizons with academic trips to US, Europe and other countries this year, according to industry estimates
This summer Meng Yanqi, 14, will spend more than three weeks visiting Ivy League schools and monuments in Washington on a study tour that his father hopes will give the teen a clearer understanding of what he wants in life.
The trip is costing the middle-class family 47,900 yuan, but the father, Meng Chao, said it was a wise investment.
“If he finds it interesting, he will study harder after coming back to China, and if it’s not as good as expected, we can find him another path,” he said.
Meng Yanqi will be among an estimated half-million young mainlanders heading overseas on study trips this year, up from about 350,000 last year, according to Shanghai-based 2limi.com, which organises tours. Revenue for the entire industry is expected to hit 12 billion yuan, it estimated.
A typical trip offered by one provider, New Oriental Global Study Tour, involves about 35 pupils visiting several parts of a country under the supervision of two teachers. The teenagers billet with local families, stay in dormitories and sometimes hotels. Parents can stay in touch with their children daily through social media and messaging services.
When New Oriental launched its programme a decade ago, six pupils signed up for tours – last year, it sent 15,000 young people abroad and the number has now risen to more than 20,000 pupils, who can choose from about 100 tours that include such destinations as the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong. Prices range from 10,000 yuan to 50,000 yuan.
Many of the children came from middle-class families or had parents who themselves had studied abroad, said Linus Jonsson, national manager of EF International Language Centres, a major English-educational service provider on the mainland. Parents sent their children overseas “to broaden their vision, improve their English-speaking skills and develop their cultural adaptability”, he said. “A study tour during holidays is a good option for families with future overseas study plans.”