On 19th October, HOPE International Education held an overseas schools and summer/winter camp fair at Shanghai Children's Palace, local’s famous extra-curriculum centre for children. 11 schools from the United Kingdom, Singapore and Malaysia were invited to attend this small and focused event which attracted more than 110 families. Some families from other cities came to Shanghai specially for the event.
The fair consisted of a short introduction session of each school, a panel discussion on ‘how to cultivate and develop students’ interest and international vision’ followed by individual counselling and interviews at booth table. Parents at the site were very keen on knowing the curriculum of different schools, pastoral care offered to international students and cost of tuition and living. Parents were most interested in short-term programme such as winter and summer camps, short immersion programme, which can offer their children an experience and prepare them for long-term study abroad in the future.
School fair at Children’s Palace attracted more than 110 local families
Panel discussion with representatives from four overseas institutions from UK, Singapore and Malaysia respectively hosted by Judith Zhu, Chief Counsellor, HOPE
The whole event was well received and highly commented by both exhibitors and parents. However, does the bustling fair mean a bigger potential market for overseas schools after pandemic? The answer is ‘not that optimistic’! The market is becoming more diversified and parents are getting more cautious and price-sensitive. The schools from traditional destination countries such as UK, US, Canada and Australia are increasingly challenged by schools from South-East Asian countries, HK and international schools in China. It seems that parents now care more about safety, costs, services offered by school and top university enrollment than the destination country itself. That is also why short term programme is getting increasingly popular for students as pre-screening opportunity and a taste programme before they make the decision for their long term study overseas.
Lively discussion between parents and representatives
HOPE will continuously organize such small but focused event in the future. Schools from different countries and regions with different nature and curriculum will be invited. For example, for the event on 19th, we have state and private schools mainly from the UK but also branch campus of UK schools in Singapore and Malaysia. Even those schools in the UK, some are from England, but one is from Wales and one from Scotland; Some offer A level/BETC and GCSE, some IB, so that unnecessary competition is avoided.
