综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

chinadaily.com.cn
left corner left corner
China Daily Website

Overseas study tours gain popularity

Updated: 2012-07-31 10:40
( Xinhua)

BEIJING -- Although most Chinese parents don't give a second thought about spending lavishly on their children, the mother of Xiang Miao, a high school sophomore who partook in a 16-day summer study tour abroad last year, regrets her careless spending.

Xiang's mother paid 30,000 yuan ($4,700) for the so-called "overseas study tour", which boasts of homestay accomodation, collective learning and sight-seeing activities in a foreign country.

"I would rather have taken him abroad myself if I had known about this kind of study tour. It is an eye-opener at best, rather than a way of truly enhancing his English skills or making preparations for future overseas study," she said.

However, the number of applicants for such programs still saw "explosive" growth this year, according to Zhou Xiaolan, director of the marketing department at the New Oriental Education & Technology Group, a major Chinese education company.

More than 10,000 students in Beijing alone will travel abroad for the group's summer study tour, more than the total for last year.

"Tour packages to popular destinations such as the US and Britain were booked up three months in advance and less costly tours were also nearly packed," she said.

Chinese parents usually give their children a wide variety of choices when it comes to how and where they spend their summer vacation. With the affluence of the Chinese middle class growing all the time, such choices are no longer limited to domestic locations.

A three-week trip may cost anywhere from 20,000 yuan to 43,000 yuan, depending on the destination. Most of the applicants are middle school students who have at least two to three years to wait before taking the national college entrance examination.

Parents generally expect their children to gain a great deal from their overseas experience, and some have purposefully put their children in such programs as a warm-up before future overseas study.

However, observers have warned prospective students and their parents to take caution, warning against profiteering and other shady practices.

Parents have reportedly complained about too many sight-seeing and shopping activities instead of programs that can help their children improve their language and communication skills.

Suzhou-based lawyer She Bin still worries about his son She Tinghui going abroad, even though the boy has already been abroad by himself once before. The boy is currently on a 12-day trip to the US, having already been to Singapore previously.

"When he was in Singapore, he was aware that his Singaporean counterparts developed stronger skills in problem-solving. I believe that influence was important for his growth," said She Bin.

The elder She recommended government-guided programs or those organized by schools and education authorities.

Jiang Nan, an adviser for "global study tour" programs, advised parents to make sure they are clear about the purpose and schedule of any trip they choose to sign their children up for.

"When checking the itinerary and credentials of the program's organizer, parents have to make sure at the same time that their children are really interested in exploring the place they are going," he said.

...

...
...
门头沟区| 龙胜| 新野县| 土默特左旗| 九龙县| 枞阳县| 英超| 甘洛县| 西青区| 巨鹿县| 教育| 永登县| 芦山县| 东兰县| 孝昌县| 张家港市| 岫岩| 桑植县| 德令哈市| 扶沟县| 五峰| 朝阳区| 林口县| 汶川县| 老河口市| 饶平县| 石棉县| 阿拉尔市| 那坡县| 酒泉市| 锡林郭勒盟| 刚察县| 双柏县| 连州市| 安吉县| 江川县| 西吉县| 临西县| 奉贤区| 建始县| 华宁县|