How China’s new philanthropists can help deliver education for all

Charles Chen Yidan says donors must back innovative, tech-focused ways to enhance traditional education for maximum impact and so transform students’ futures

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Students get a maths lesson using a cloud teaching platform at an elementary school in Fuzhou, Fujian province, last November. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 12:02pm, 28 Jan 2017Updated: 5:46pm, 29 Jan 2017

In Asia, education is a central tenet of society. The UN has prioritised the issue with a mission to promote “inclusive and equitable quality education”. Enrolment in primary education in developing countries has reached 91 per cent, but 57 million children remain out of school .

Delivering inclusive and equitable education at all levels will take more than just a blank cheque

Now is the time for philanthropy to back innovative approaches that can tackle the task at hand. Delivering inclusive and equitable education at all levels will take more than just a blank cheque.

The automation of industries means future economic growth will be less dependent on labour-intensive jobs, with profound implications for education policy. But governments everywhere face challenges in ensuring education keeps pace with changing needs.

Who are the biggest Chinese philanthropists?

Take China. Resources have been invested in public education, but are still scarce and severely imbalanced. Quality teachers are concentrated in larger cities. Students dropping out of school is a serious issue in rural areas, especially for migrant workers who have to leave their children behind. China had 61 million “left-behind” children in 2014, accounting for 22 per cent of all its children.

A student at a primary school in Gucheng township of Hefei, Anhui province, in September 2015. Most of his schoolmates, like him, are “left-behind children”. Photo: Reuters

China has 61 million left-behind children ... that’s almost Britain’s total population

Action is needed to ensure these children have the necessary skills to enter the workforce. According to the “Yidan Prize Forecast: Education to 2030”, a study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, China’s youth unemployment rate hit 10.8 per cent in 2015, and is projected to increase to 14 per cent in 2030.

While good intentions are welcome, money without purpose achieves few results