CHINA: China's rich bet on early MBA programme to give their children's future an early jumpstart

It's after school but learning does not stop for these Chinese preschoolers. More than a dozen of them are here attending the Early MBA programme at FasTracKids, an early education centre in Shanghai that takes in children from as young as three to six years old. It's economics they are studying. The children shout, but it would hardly be something Adam Smith would have foreseen. Today, these preschoolers learn the basics of barter trade, trading objects with each other and doing presentations under the supervision of their two in-class tutors. First founded in the United States, the Early MBA programme was introduced in China two years ago by FasTracKids and the company says the response to the programme has been overwhelming with more than 3000 children enrolled. Besides economics, children also go through other courses such as astronomy, speech and drama and creative writing in this two year course. It is not an intensive programme as the children learn about different aspects of these topics during a two-hour class every week. The programme does not come cheap of course, and priced at 20,000 yuan (2500 U.S. dollars) it is out of reach to most Chinese parents except those with high incomes. But Chris Justice, the chairman of FasTracKids China, say the learning experience for the children is well worth the investment. "Well it teaches children a number of things, but mostly it gives them a great foundation for successful learning in the future, as well teaching them sort of really important life skills. Things like confidence, decision making, creative thinking, teaching them how to think outside the box, as well as presentation skills and communication skills," he said. The early education business is doing a roaring trade in many of China's fast growing cities as competitive and well-to-do parents rush to enroll their young to different programmes promising a jumpstart for their children's learning process. But critics say some of these programmes are purely marketing tools and hardly add any more value to what a child can learn everyday in regular school. These parents, however, are taking no chances in ensuring that their children get the best that money can buy. "The curriculum here is more interesting than other early education centres. There, they have to recognise words or learn arithmetics. I feel these are just too tiring for children so young in age. Here at FasTracKids, the lessons they offer are more fun in nature, they learn about astronomy, public welfare, speech and drama, and communication skills, I think this would be helpful for them in the future," said Ge Bei, mother of 5-year-old James Zhou, who is enrolled in the programme. She added that her boy has become more outward-going after coming to the Early MBA programme. With an eye-catching interactive TV screen as their centrepiece, another class of children is drawing out a storyboard for their speech and drama class at FasTracKids. With easy-to-do classroom work and no homework to bring home, it is here that the children are happy to speak out and interact with their fellow classmates. And for five-year-old James Zhou, the course is more play than study. "I am here for the lessons because I feel happy here," he said with a shy smile. FasTracKids now has three branches in Shanghai and is looking to expand across China by opening more than 25 centres in the next three years.

ITN Source | January 5, 2007

Tags:. .arithmetics. .aspects. .astronomy. .attending. .barter