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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Research & Development
The Enjoying English Group has made considerable achievements over the past 10 years. From
humble beginnings teaching in middle schools, to developing special
courses and presentations for colleges, universities, the police and
armed forces, the 2008 Olympic Volunteer Training Programme, state and
private business and industry, we have continuously strived to improve our services for the benefit of our visitors, and those with whom we work.
Thousands of man hours have been dedicated to developing our two websites; the first, www.enjoyingenglish2008.org
continuing as a resource for students and teachers in China and
south-east Asia, has received more than 1 million visitors in the first 3 months of 2010. Our
International website launched in 2009; www.enjoyingenglish.info
However, a new decade heralds new developments.
For continued progress and development in our lives and careers, it is
necessary to take stock and review our situation, circumstances and
opportunities once in a while. The same applies to our business, and
what we hope to achieve in the future.
Our website management company has made significant improvements over
the past three months, although it has not been without problem
Moving around our website is faster, and we are able to offer enhanced services to our visitors.
We have made astonishing progress with our websites over recent months,
with the number of visitors increasing dramatically since the beginning
of 2010. That's good for us, and is clearly benefiting a huge number
of students. We hope it continues, and look forward to your continued
input through the summer.
Our Aims & Objectives, and details of our Initiatives are laid out in detail on 'About Us' and summarised in a document titled 'An Over~View'
published last year (2009). Our underlying principles remain the same,
except that Initiatives in the Countryside should be expanded to
include schools in urban areas where facilities may be limited.
Live
Presentations are always useful to those who are in a position to
experience them. They are useful to us, as they provide an opportunity
to keep updated as to what is developing in the educational arena, and
what students and teachers need from a practical point of view.
Second,
we are able to offer short, medium and long term courses of Oral
English, related to the specific needs of a group or organisation.
They are tailored to the specific needs of an organisation; for
example, those involved in business, International Trade and Industry.
Courses range from weekend seminars, to crash courses of 2 or 4 hours a
week over 10 weeks. They include a large amount of practical work in
groups, and are important for China's continuing future development.*
Third is the development of opportunities for students in less developed environments.
Since
2003, Provincial and Central Governments have increased opportunities
for students at college and universities, beginning in the south-west.
We feel that there is a need to fill a gap for opportunities for upper
junior school students in the year before they move to junior middle
school - theoretically that they will have all had the same experiences
of spoken English at the beginning of middle school education.
From
our contacts and experiences, formal grammar is taught very well in
China, although it is not the same as is now taught in schools in the
UK or Europe. Oral English, however, is often taught from tapes, by
inexperienced teachers, with little understanding of the structure of
natural Oral English in various situations - conversational, business
etc., and with poor pronunciation. This is because many students
pronounce English letters and sylables, as they do Chinese in pinyin.
A
3 year programme of Research & Development, beginning with a
comparison of students in different educational environments, followed
by the establishment of a 1 year programme, and finally an evaluation
is probably the most effective way to deal with the problems.
We
don't pretend to have the answer to all educational problems. That
would be arrogant on our part, and offensive to teachers who have
worked diligently, often with limited resources, with students with
whom they are familiar.
We
are, however, confident that we have the skills and resources, backed
by an excellent Team of professionals, to be able to resolve problems
relating to the teaching of Oral English. It would enhance student's
capabilities, which in turn, would be beneficial to the future economic
development of China.
Of course,
for the proposals to be successful, there needs to be close
co-operation between ourselves, Chinese Teachers of English, and the
Authorities at different levels.
We are contacting universities and the Authorities in China in the hope that we may begin work in the summer of 2010.
If you have enquiries, or suggestions, please e-mail via the 'Link' at the top of the page, and insert 'Research' in the subject bar.
Kind regards
Alan Cooper & Wang Bo
Directors.
15.04.2010.
* As I write this, figures released today indicate that China's growth is around 12% for the first quarter - the fastest growing economy in the world.
Millions of Chinese rural migrants denied education for their children Link to this video
Parents face dilemma as hereditary registration system limits access to urban services
Hu Zhongping dreams that one day his young sons
may go to university and escape his life of casual manual labour. The
aspiration seems increasingly unrealistic. Right now, he would settle
for them going to school.
Chinese children are entitled to a state education, but not all of
them get one. And the tens of millions born to migrant workers like Hu
are among the most vulnerable, owing to a registration system that
divides the country's citizens into rural and urban dwellers, and
dictates their rights accordingly.
Despite spending more than half his life in Beijing, Hu does not
enjoy the same access to health, education and social services as his
neighbours. And because the hukou ? registration ? is
inherited, neither do his children. "I wish my kids could go to a
state school," says Hu. "Parents always wish their children could
receive a better education."
The contradictions of the hukou system, designed for a 1950s planned economy, become more painful with every year of China's
development. About 140 million rural migrants are now working in the
cities, where average incomes are more than three times than those of
the countryside. Migrants have fuelled the country's spectacular
growth but not reaped the benefits. And once they become parents, they
face an unpalatable choice.
Fifty-eight million children are left behind in the countryside by
parents who hope that relatives will raise them lovingly. Another 19
million remain in the cities ? where they are, in effect, second-class
citizens. Both groups have poorer academic performance and more
behavioural problems than their peers.
At present, Hu's eight-year-old twins, Xiaonan and Xiaobei, are
studying in the family's cramped one-room apartment, under the guidance
of their mother, who left school at 16.
"You need connections to get your kids in [to state school] if you
are from other places, and making those connections costs too much
money," says Hu. "We can't afford it."
State schools receive no funding for migrant pupils, so often
claim to be full. Others charge illicit "donations" of as much as
6,000 yuan (£590) a term, said Zhang Zhiquan, from the Friends of
Migrant Workers group. That is more than Hu's entire income for the
period. Many families do not qualify anyway, because they lack the right
documents. Scrap collectors and street vendors have no employment
contracts.
That leaves more than a third of migrant children in Beijing ? and
far more in other cities ? dependent on private schools, which usually
charge about 600 yuan a term. Until a few weeks ago, the Hu twins were
among these pupils. But their school is one of 30 facing demolition as
part of urban development plans. Up to 10,000 children in Beijing will
be affected.
The education department in Chaoyang district ? where most
affected schools are based ? has said it will help all pupils,
increasing capacity at nearby primaries and aiding approved private
schools to find new locations.
But hundreds have already been sent back to the countryside by
parents. Others ? including Xiaonan and Xiaobei ? have yet to find new
places. Activists fear that some may fall out of schooling altogether;
a study cited by the China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based group
campaigning for workers' rights, said about 6% of migrant children have
never attended school.
The demolitions have highlighted the precarious, makeshift nature
of much migrant schooling. At worst, children can end up in low
quality, profit-driven institutions that are little more than holding
pens. At best, they rely on individuals such as Ma Ruigang, headmaster
of another school on the demolition list. A migrant himself, he
founded the Blue Sky primary school after friends asked him to help
educate their children.
It's a spartan site with few facilities, but the teachers are
dedicated. Neatly turned out children are chanting from their
textbooks as he pokes his head into their classroom. "What sort of
country will it be if these children are on the streets instead of in
school?" he asks, nodding at his charges. "Since the children have
come with their parents, and their parents are supporting the
development of Beijing, their education is a very big issue. It's not
only an issue for their families, but also for the government and
nation."
Authorities are not indifferent to the problem. Chaoyang
officials donate equipment to the school, and have promised
compensation so it can reopen on a site nearby. But critics say both
local and national efforts scratch the surface. "The Chinese government
has introduced a raft of policies, laws and regulations [to benefit
migrant children]," pointed out a recent report by China Labour Bulletin.
"Rural policies have lacked the human and financial resources
needed to effectively implement them, while migrant children in the
cities still face institutional discrimination based on the [hukou].
"The only long-term solution is wide-ranging and systematic reform
of the social welfare system and abolition of the hukou system."
The government has promised an overhaul, but fears drastic changes
could lead to migrants flooding cities, putting an unmanageable strain
on services and housing and potentially leading to unrest.
The hukou also helps authorities to track individuals.
And extending services in cities will require massive amounts of extra
funding. Others warn that migrants could sign away their rights to
farmland too quickly, leaving them with nothing to fall back on if life
in the city proves too tough.
But many say the government's current plan, allowing rural
dwellers to register in smaller urban centres, will do nothing for
tens of millions who crossed the country to work in the biggest cities.
Another generation of their children will grow up with big ambitions, but only slender prospects.
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