Investing in Education a ‘No Brainer’ for Chinese

I was less than 2 years old when my parents divorced in 1957. My
20-year-old Japanese mother suddenly found herself living in a strange
country with no family, friends, money, food or place to live.
Yet instead of returning to Japan where her family and friends were,
she scratched, rummaged and scavenged enough to make a new life for us
in America. Why?
My mother knew that a half-Japanese, half-American child had limited
opportunities in Japan. It wasn’t like it is today; the wounds from
World War II were too fresh. I would have never gone to a top
university or landed a top job.
Even though my mother barely spoke English and seldom had more than
two nickels to rub together, she fiercely held to the idea of the
American dream. “In America, anybody can get rich if they work hard,”
she told me.
And she was determined to have me prove her right.
Putting the ‘Earn’ in ‘Learn’
My mother ordered me to sit in the front row right in front of the
teacher’s desk. She gave me almost-daily lectures on the importance of
education, and punished me severely if I brought home anything less
than an A. My mother was a big believer in corporal punishment and I
got the spankings of my life for anything less than straight-As.
For someone who started off as a homeless immigrant, my mother saw
all her children grow up to achieve great professional success. I am
sad to say that my mother died seven years ago from cancer, but I
preach the same lessons about education to my children to this day.
Those same lectures about education are given every day all over
Asia, especially in China, because academic success is a top cultural
priority even despite the effects of the global economic slowdown.
Spending on Schooling
Shouldn’t Slow Down
Consumer spending in China is still robust but there’s no question
that it’s slowing down. The latest numbers for April showed that retail
sales in China grew by 14.1% on a year-over-year basis.
While that may sound good compared to the sluggish U.S. retail
sector, it is the lowest number in 14 months and far-below
expectations.
Chinese consumers are becoming more-selective with their spending
but, according to a new survey from A.C. Nielsen, education is one
thing that they don’t skimp on.
3 Facts About China’s
Changing Spending Habits
You may think of Nielsen as a U.S. company, but they do business all
over the world, including China. Nielsen, which provides data on
consumers’ spending and viewing habits worldwide, surveyed 3,500
Chinese people from a range of backgrounds. Its newest survey of
Chinese consumers disclosed some important facts:

• Although Chinese consumer confidence rose in the first three months
  of 2012 to its highest level since 2005, making China the world’s
  fourth-most-optimistic nation, willingness to spend remained flat.
• China’s consumers are cooling toward discretionary spending, even
  on important things like food, clothes, holiday gifts and entertainment.
  Spending on all those categories dropped from the previous quarter.
• Consumers were willing to devote more money to only two areas: Savings and education.

That last piece of data tells you how important education is in China.
Most Chinese students don’t finish until 5 p.m. or 6 p.m., watch
little television and play very few video games. They are prohibited
from working before the age of 16, so they can concentrate on school.
Plus, most students attend tutoring classes after school and on
Saturdays.
“Very rarely do children in other countries receive academic
training as intensive as our children do. So if the test is on math and
science, there’s no doubt Chinese students will win the competition,”
said Sun Baohong of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
Plain and simple, the education sector is an all-weather,
recession-resistant, steady growth winner and there is a way to profit —
HANDSOMELY — from the Asian obsession with education and academic
success.

source: http://www.uncommonwisdomdaily.com/investing-in-education-a-%E2%80%98no-...