深中学生留学呈低龄化趋势

    Zhang Yuanyuan, a junior high school student at Shenzhen Fujing Foreign Language School, is busy applying to schools overseas before the senior high school entrance exam.

    Zhang’s not alone among young Shenzhen students who intend to study abroad.

    A spokesperson from London International Academy, a public senior high school in Canada, said in a recent conference that studying overseas is becoming trendy with students at younger ages and there is a 10-percent annual increase in junior students who choose to continue senior study abroad. The school is targeting the increasing demand from Chinese students seeking to study overseas.

    A marketing director for an overseas study agency based in Shenzhen said many parents are willing to send their children abroad at an early age, before they start senior high school education. A rough calculation by the agency shows there are more than 2,000 middle school students in Shenzhen applying to overseas schools each year, and the number is increasing by 10 percent annually. Most of these students come from grades Junior 3 and Senior 1 and 2.

    Sun Wenjing, a dean at London International Academy, said among the Chinese students studying at the school, 70 percent are in Senior 2, 10 percent are in Senior 3 and 10 to 15 percent are in Junior 3. The rising number of young students, Sun said, results from two major factors: Parents hope their children will grow accustomed to foreign education and cultures at an early age, and they don’t have enough confidence in domestic education.(Zhao Jie)