Cleaning up chaos in int'l schools

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After a glimpse of the dazzling advertisements for countless international programs at high schools all over the country, one wonders whether "education" remains the key word.

Expensive tuition fees and famous Western school brands, coupled with the flaunting of certified, professional, foreign teachers, all attempt to give applicants an air of luxury and exclusivity.

Regardless of the high costs, the programs have been growing in popularity in recent years, as have the numbers going overseas for education.

But the momentum of these programs may soon hit a roadblock.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has vowed to crack down on unlicensed international programs, after the number of programs snowballed.

Part of the problem has been the lack of transparency in the management of these schools. In many cases, despite being advertised as being run by renowned foreign schools, they were in fact operated by companies.

Rather than improving the quality of the domestic education sector, many are now asking whether these schools merely serve as a stepping stone for those who wish to study abroad.

Licensing nightmare

The number of institutions and programs cooperatively launched by domestic and foreign educational institutions has reached nearly 2,000, the MOE stated at a September 5 press conference, noting that the ministry's focus will shift to removing substandard international programs from high schools.

Figures from the ministry showed that 90 institutions and high schools went through proper licensing procedures, indicating that an overwhelmingly large number of these programs are in a legal gray zone.

A staff member from the International Department of the Guangzhou-based Affiliated High School of South China Normal University, renowned in Guangdong Province, said that the international programs were approved by the provincial education department, but records were not filed with the MOE.

This goes against a 2004 regulation that stipulated that applications for international programs in high schools should be approved by provincial or municipal education departments, but also filed with the ministry.

But this case is far from unique. Standards for approving international programs remain chaotic in China, with few filing records with the ministry and some even receiving licenses from the city or county's education departments, according to a July 3 China Youth Daily report, which noted that the situation has caused problems regarding the standards of courses and teachers.

In one high profile case, Neil Robinson, a British man wanted by UK police for alleged child sex offences, was detained in Beijing in April for illegally staying in China. Robinson had been teaching at a Beijing international high school.

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