4 - 5 October 2001

2001 EASB participates in Guangzhou Educational Fair

The number of students who left Guangzhou for further studies overseas has increased by 40% in 2000

Guangzhou is the capital of China's Guangdong province, a city of 4.9 million people in its nine urban districts and another 1.6 million in surrounding counties. This city is usually mentioned together with Beijing and Shanghai as the nation's most prominent cities. That's because Guangzhou, influenced by nearby Hong Kong and the Cantonese business ethic, has led the nation's 20-year-old market economy and gotten rich from it. Many parents in Guangzhou want to and can afford to send their children overseas for higher education.

This year's International Education Exhibition was organized by the Guangdong Education Service of International Exchanges, one of only 8 agencies approved by the Education Department of Guangdong Province to help potential students find a suitable place overseas for higher education. The 2- day exhibition, held at The Garden Hotel, Guangzhou, was preceded by a reception dinner on Wednesday evening, October 3. The guest of honor at the dinner was the Deputy Education Minister of Guangdong Province, as well as representatives from the Australian, New Zealand, Canada and German embassies.

Participants from 14 countries were represented in this year's exhibition. EASB's booth was manned by Stefani Xu and James Liu, our China representatives as well as Andrew Chua and F T Liu who flew over from Singapore. The biggest crowd was on the morning of the first day, October 4, a Thursday, as the exhibition coincided with the week long National Holidays in China. Parents together with their children wanted to find out what are the courses offered by EASB, how recognised are the Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas and what is the estimated expenses per year to take up a course in Singapore. They were attracted by the fact that EASB's courses provided a fast-track pathway to a degree awarded by a UK university. At the same time, the cost of doing 2 years of a 3-year degree course in Singapore followed by a final year in UK, makes economical sense. The estimated expenses per year (course fees and living expenses) were 50 to 60 thousand RMB and 200 to 250 thousand RMB for Singapore and UK respectively.

To address the concerns on English Language capability, Andrew Chua, Chairman and CEO of EASB, explained to the parents and potential students that EASB has a partnership with the Regional Language Centre (RELC), a body set up by SEAMEO (South East Asia Ministers of Education Organisation) to provide English Classes to prepare students for the Diploma programs. This course, known as ETEDP (English Training for Entry into Diploma Programs) was specially tailored to help students from China in the area of grammar & vocabulary, reading & pronunciation, speaking, writing skills and comprehension.

A large crowd gathered at the afternoon EASB presentation on Friday. James Liu, EASB's General Manager for China gave a presentation on the background of EASB as well as the courses offered. This was followed by a presentation on GeUN, EASB's eLearning portal, which is a key feature of EASB's superior student services. The audience was impressed by EASB's commitment and investment in eLearning, which is in line with the image of a new economy school.

Stefani Xu, our China Representative based in Guangzhou, will be contacting the interested students and make the necessary arrangements for them to join the January 2002 intake in Singapore.

Deputy Education Minister Guangdong Province	EASB Team at the Fair
Visitors listening intently to presentation at the booth	Andrew Chua going on air for Guangzhou TV