While the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spreading around the world has led to travel restrictions and social distancing, the ties between many teachers from North America working for companies like VIPKid, a Beijing-based online English tutoring company, and their Chinese students have grown closer. Due to the robust demand for online courses in China during the epidemic, teachers have continued to work through these difficult times, while many of them have received support from their Chinese students.

"My favorite regular student sent face masks for my family. He sent so many that I was able to share them with many of my friends in the medical field. Kindness reaches all corners of the Earth," a teacher named Meg posted on her social media account in March. Meanwhile, in February, when the epidemic peaked in China, some VIPKid foreign teachers donated masks to 300 households in Wuhan, the hardest-hit city in Hubei Province, central China, during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Since China's further opening up, the implementation of the two-child policy and the rise of a middle-income group, a great demand for English language learning among Chinese children has emerged in the country. VIPKid said it had more than 100,000 English-language teachers in North America connected to over 700,000 students between the ages of 4 and 12, mostly in China, as of late 2019.

The boom in the market has attracted many foreign teachers to come to China or seek jobs through online platforms. The epidemic has greatly affected offline English-tutoring companies due to travel restrictions and lockdown. So, online English-tutoring platforms are experiencing a heyday, creating opportunities in China.

Booming opportunities

Since many Chinese children start learning English at an early age, the online English tutoring market has great potential. According to an October 2019 report released by TalkingData, a China-based big data service platform, the market scale of online English teaching targeting children aging from 4 to 12 in China is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in 2020.

While the market has seen many emerging players, it has gradually consolidated around several giants. Another report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in March on China's online English-tutoring platforms targeting children in 2020 showed that the platform 51Talk ranks first in the industry with a market share of up to 46 percent, followed by other brands such as VIPKid, DaDa and Qkids.

As school semesters were postponed in many regions during the epidemic, online education platforms have taken the opportunity to expand their customer base through offering free courses and improving live streaming platforms. "Market prospects for online education firms have been boosted," Zhang Lijun, an education veteran and partner at Sinovation Ventures, told the finance site Caijing.com.cn, adding that it is now easier for companies to attract users at lower costs.

According to a report released by China's tech giant Baidu on the most searched keywords online during the resumption of work in February, the search volume for online education rose over 100 percent from the previous month since January 18, with foreign language teaching the most searched.

Many online English-tutoring platforms have seen growing orders. DaDa said that its course orders increased by nearly 70 percent month on month in February. Ren Jian, senior Vice President of marketing at 51Talk, told Securities Daily that the number of its newly registered users has grown by over 300 percent during the epidemic. Zhang Liming, co-founder of 51Talk, said that there has been a surge in the number of new users from third-and fourth-tier cities in China as many offline institutions have suspended operation, according to National Business Daily.

The outbreak has led to companies further tapping into the e-teaching mode and developing supporting technologies. "VIPKid teachers have developed more understanding of online education and embraced the mode," Xu Zhe, chief of staff of the company, told Beijing Review. Along with providing online courses, VIPKid has opened its Weimi live-streaming platform to schools and institutions across China free of charge. 51Talk has also introduced an Air Class platform to support offline institutions.

Benefits abroad

While enabling children to learn English in a more convenient way, the online English-tutoring platforms have also created remote jobs for people from North America and other English-speaking countries, attracting many teachers. According to Xu, foreign teachers at VIPKid have at least a bachelor's degree and two years of teaching experience. Data from GoGoKid, another online English-tutoring platform, showed that about 65 percent of its foreign teachers have a bachelor's degree, with the rest having a master's degree or a PhD.

For many of the foreign teachers, the remote work offers both flexibility and extra income. Teachers in general are not among high-income groups in North America, especially in the U.S., Xu explained. Facebook donated $25 million to help provide teachers living in Silicon Valley with affordable housing in 2019. "Many teachers in North America have to take on part-time jobs. Being an online teacher is in line with their professional experience and preferences and also provides a decent income," he said.

Michelle Yang, a staff member in charge of foreign teacher recruitment at VIPKid, told 21st Century Business that its foreign teachers earn $2,000-$3,000 per month on average teaching online courses.

51Talk hires online English tutors from the Philippines. Since China and the Philippines are in the same time zone, Chinese students can schedule appointments with their teachers more often. According to the company, it had over 18,000 home-based Philippine teachers as of last year.

As China opens its door wider to the world, educational exchanges have benefited domestic students and allowed foreign teachers to learn more about the country. Many of the English-tutoring platforms have offered free online courses for children in China's rural areas. According to Xu, VIPKid introduced a rural education project in 2017, helping over 30,000 rural students access courses taught by its foreign teachers.

The platforms also organize activities for foreign teachers to meet with their Chinese students. Some teachers from 51Talk visited intangible cultural heritage inheritors in several Chinese cities, including Xi'an in Shaanxi Province in northwest China and Beijing, in 2019 with their students. VIPKid also invited some U.S. teachers to China that year to experience Chinese folk customs.

The ties have become even closer during the outbreak. Many foreign teachers have sent videos to cheer up their Chinese students and made donations. In early April, 51Talk donated medical supplies worth about 750,000 yuan ($106,600) to the Philippines.

Challenges remain

Although these platforms are currently doing well, their long-term development is a cause for concern. According to Zhang, the epidemic will accelerate the integration of online and offline education in the long term, and offline education will still be the chosen model since many parents prefer an offline learning experience and also worry about their children's eyesight after computer overexposure. "Online players need to offer more high-quality courses to retain users and gain a lead in the industry," she said.

The quality of teaching is also a major criterion. Some parents' feedback on social media platforms show that while many foreign teachers are patient, they sometimes fail to correct children's pronunciation.

According to a report by the market consultancy iiMedia Research in March, the online English tutoring platforms can improve the interaction between teachers and students and adopt new technologies such as artificial intelligence to help students concentrate on learning and record their learning progress.

The companies can also explore opportunities in third- and fourth-tier cities and rural areas in China to expand market shares, it said.

(Original Title: Teaching Ties)

Copyedited by Rebeca Toledo

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