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Harrow, Kings School and Wycombe Abbey flock to Greater Bay Area as demand for top international schools soars
- The middle class’ preference for reputable brands in the mainland has created a strong market for private and international schools
- The bay area includes a high proportion of young wealthy families and highly skilled professionals – the very people those schools are targeting
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Shenzhen resident Huang Pengtao, the father of a six-year-old boy, is a worried man. His concern is for his son’s educational path after he performed badly in a “simulation” recently offered by Whittle School & Studio, a popular international school in the city.
A simulation of this kind mirrors the kind of lessons a pupil will take in school, with teachers observing.
“His performance was not good,” said Huang, a mainland-born lawyer who has Hong Kong citizenship.
He decided to contact other schools and ask friends for help in trying to get his son into another international school in Shenzhen. “I want my boy to see the outside world. My family can afford his tuition,” he said.
The rise of the Chinese middle class and its preference for reputable brands has created a strong market for international schools. That market is now growing particularly fast in the Greater Bay Area, a region of 72 million people that includes a high proportion of young wealthy families and highly skilled professionals – the very people those schools are targeting.
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