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Wellington College China was featured in China Daily

18 Nov 2024
 

 

 

 

MEDIA VOICE

 

We're excited to share an exclusive interview with Joy Qiao, Founder and Chairman of Wellington College China, featured in China Daily. In it, she highlights how the Wellington College China has grown to six schools in four cities over the past 15 years. Now serving more than 5,400 pupils from 50+ countries territories, Wellington College China schools have become a top destination for international families seeking a high-quality education. Read as Joy shares several alumni success stories and explains why mastering the Chinese language gives our graduates a unique competitive edge after they graduate. She also discusses our plans to take our highly effective education model overseas with Hiba Academy Bay Area, our first school in the US, scheduled to open in Fall 2026.

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Gaining a competitive edge

 

Offering high-quality education, China's international schools remain an attractive option, Zhou Wenting reports in Shanghai.

 

By Zhou Wenting | China Daily 

Thursday, November 7, 2024 | Page 17

 

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Students at the school take to the stage to perform on the college's 10th anniversary ceremony on Friday.

 

Wellington College China has witnessed steady growth in the number of expat students at its six schools in four cities over the past 15 years, reflecting foreigners' continued confidence in China's economy and development, says the group's top executive.

 

There are currently over 5,400 students at the group's Wellington and Hiba schools in Tianjin, Shanghai, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, and Nantong in Jiangsu province; and the student number has risen, says Joy Qiao Ying, founder and chairman of Wellington College China.

 

"Taking Wellington College International Shanghai as an example, there were over 300 students when it opened a decade ago. Now, we are near full capacity at over 1,600 students," says Qiao during an exclusive interview on Friday when the school celebrated its 10th anniversary.

 

"We're extremely lucky as a service provider in the education sector that has been riding on the giant, historical wave of China's rapid economic development," Qiao says.

 

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Pupils from Wellington College in Shanghai compete in a book relay in August.

 

"Increasingly, I hear multinational companies say they are in China not just because it is a big market or a place for manufacturing but because the country is attractive for its massive talent pool across disciplines and industries and its global perspective and linguistic ability," she says.

 

By staying in Shanghai, and with China being one of the largest international school markets globally, expat children enjoy top-quality education that they might not have access to in their home countries. This is one attraction or competitive advantage for expats to live and work in China, says Qiao.

 

Wellington College China schools, for which the annual tuition fees in Shanghai range from 166,000 yuan ($23,000) to 380,000 yuan, have students from more than 50 countries and regions around the world, especially from the United States, the United Kingdom and other European countries. Many children also come from South Africa, Southeast Asian countries, Australia and Canada, among others.

 

Parents work in all sectors in China. "Taking our Shanghai schools as an example, the diverse areas relevant to technology and innovation — clean energy, electric vehicles, pharmaceuticals, finance, and advanced manufacturing — have representation in our parent body," says Qiao.

 

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Two students try on a classical Chinese musical instrument.

 

"Recently, we noticed many of the parents of students newly joining us are from the pharmaceutical sector. Perhaps it is a result of our location or the features of Shanghai's economy as a whole," she says.

 

Many expat parents appreciate that Chinese language courses are mandatory in early years for everyone who attends, says Qiao.

 

"China is an increasingly influential participant on the global stage. Parents see it as a significant, competitive advantage for their children to master the Chinese language, which is the most spoken worldwide and perhaps the most difficult to learn," she says.

 

Students can also select Chinese culture studies courses, which are a combination of history, geography and moral education.

 

"Celebrations and activities are held on the campus for all the important traditional Chinese festivals — Dragon Boat Festival, Lantern Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival," says an eighth-grade student from the UK at Wellington College International Shanghai, who asked to be identified as Benjamin. "This allows us to experience the local culture."

 

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The school celebrates United Nations Day in October with a parade of its international students.

 

About 30 percent of graduates from the Wellington and Hiba schools go to the world's top 20 universities and about 60 percent go to top 50 universities. They ultimately become cultural ambassadors and help the world better understand China.

 

Qiao recalls a boy named Marcus from a family of Spanish and English parents who began his studies at a Wellington school in Tianjin at age 11. He is currently a senior at Peking University majoring in Chinese literature. He intends to continue with graduate studies in Chinese literature at Peking University.

 

Qiao also mentioned that the number of Chinese students who return to the country after pursing studies overseas is on the rise significantly.

 

A report by LinkedIn released in August echoed these statistics — 84 percent of Chinese students pursuing further studies abroad prioritize returning to China as their first option for their career. The percentage almost doubled from the previous year.

 

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More than 1,600 pupils and 400 members of staff came together to publicize and celebrate their landmark anniversary in September.

 

Another alumnus named Kevin who graduated from a Wellington school in Shanghai came from a family in Wuxi city, Jiangsu province, where there was a tradition of making huishan niren, clay figure handicrafts.

 

After receiving his university education abroad, he returned to China and modernized the concept of the traditional art form by combining it with coffee.

 

"He runs a coffee shop where the clay figures are exhibited and sold. Such fusion allows the traditional Chinese art form to be more accessible and appreciated by a younger, global audience," says Qiao.

 

Wellington College China is scheduled to open its first school overseas in San Francisco in the fall of 2026, providing immersive English and Chinese bilingual education.

 

"The school in San Francisco will offer education to the offspring of overseas Chinese and a lot of non-Chinese people who see the advantages of learning the Chinese language and culture," Qiao says.