Investigation and Analysis on the Current Situation of Early Education Market in

Abstract. In this paper， the current situation， characteristics and disadvantage of the early education market in Linyi are investigated and analyzed for the purpose of providing suggestions for promoting the standardized management and long-term development of the early education market at local places.

Key words： Early Education； Courses； Management Model； Faculty

Early education can promote the development of human brain， and is helpful for the all-round growth of left and right brains. With early education， the great potentials of human can be developed. The period of infancy is the key stage for the psychological development and learning.

Early education has been focused in the field of education； Chinese Children's Development Program （2001-2010） has been made in China， in which developing the early education for children of 0-3 years old is proposed [1]. Early education has begun to be implemented in more and more cities. Several ideas were proposed at the 23rd International Pediatric Conference held in Beijing in September 2001： setting up pediatric health clinics is an unstoppable trend； promoting health growth is not only a long-term task， but also a fundamental project of sound child rearing policy [2].

At present， the early education markets for infants develop unevenly and have a lot of problems. In this paper， the early education market in Linyi are investigated and analyzed for the purpose of providing suggestions for promoting the standardized management and long-term development of the early education market at local places.

1 investigation Objects and Methods

1.1 Investigation Objects

10 early educational agencies in Linyi were investigated， including Babycare， Combaby， Gymboree， Hahababy， Fastrackids， MYGYM， Kindyroo， Clevertree， Huaxiaaiying， and MICHIL.

1.2 Investigation Methods

1.2.1 Interview Method

The management personnel and teachers in 10 early educational agencies of Linyi were separately interviewed. The questions as follows were mainly asked in the interviews [3].

（1） When was the children's educational training agency you work in established？ What was the background for the establishment？ When was its branch set up in Linyi？

（2） How is the children's educational training agency managed and operated？

（3） How about the faculty sources， educational backgrounds and qualifications of the children's educational training agency？

（4） What ideas and contents are set for the courses in the children's educational training agency？

（5） What difficulties are encountered in the recruitment of teachers and course setting in the children's educational training agency？

1.2.2 Questionnaire Survey

Self-made questionnaire was applied in this investigation. 10 influencing early educational agencies for infants were randomly selected. 10 questionnaires were distributed to each agency. 100 questionnaires were distributed in total. 100 questionnaires were returned， among which 98 were effective questionnaires. Therefore， the effective rate was 98%.

3 Investigation Result and analysis

3.1 Basic Conditions of Early Education Training Agencies

Through investigation， it is found that there are more than 100 early educational training agencies providing interest classes， art education， potential development， and educational consultation， and also the early education market is filled with good and bad educational agencies.

Among the 10 investigated early educational training agencies （see table 1）， 4 of them are international chain agencies， 6 are domestic chain agencies， and none are made locally in Linyi. However， these early educational training agencies have entered Linyi only for a short time. The investigation shows that 3 of them have entered Linyi for over 3 years， 4 have entered for less than 1 year， and 3 have entered for about 1-3 years. These suggest that the early education market was developed very late in Linyi， and many well-known brands are still in the planning stage. These also further show that the development prospect of the early education market in Linyi is very good.

3.2 Objects Applicable to Early Educational Training Agencies

Scientists think that the rapid growth of baby's brain is completed at a time， and the weight of the brain of a child of 3 years old has reached 60% of that of an adult. The six years between the rapid growth of the brain cells number of a baby in the fetus period and the developed "brain Internet" in 6 years old are the golden stage of baby's brain growth， which presents different characteristics in different periods of time. The audition of a child of 0-3 years old is the best. The period of 0-6 years old is the golden stage for children education. However， is it completely infeasible to improve the quality of a child if he is more than 6 years old？ In fact， this is not true. 80% of a child of 6 years old has basically been formed， but there is the left 20% to make efforts. It is said that the growth of the left 20% will gradually be completed until about 20 years old. Therefore， parents should never give up in children education. However， compared with the education implemented from 0 years old， the education implemented from 6 years old will not achieve a spectacular result. After 13 years old， the audition of a child gradually declines. That is， an ability to learn a new language is reduced. Finally， parent will know how to use "concentrated attention" after children grow up. Along with the growth of comprehension ability， Children will know how to use "concentrated attention" only if they reach a certain age. After 13 years old， the comprehension ability increases with a gradual step， and therefore children begin to rely on comprehension and concentrated attention. Therefore， as shown in table 2， the admission objects of most early educational training agencies （40%） are oriented at children of 0-6 years old， and some agencies （10%） only recruit children of 0-3 years old. The educational orientations are different as ages are different. Therefore， the educational ideas and methods will also be different.

3.3 Courses Offered by Early Educational Training Agencies

At present， there are no uniform course offering standards for the domestic early educational training agencies from the perspective of course contents. In many early educational training agencies， the parent-child early educational methods， which are introduced from foreign countries in recent 10 years， are still applied. Therefore， the localization of early education has not been realized in a real sense. Whether these foreign parent-child early educational methods are applicable to the education of Chinese babies still needs to test.

From the investigated 10 early educational training agencies， it can be known that the courses offered by each agency seem to be different. From the investigation result （table 2）， art courses are offered by all agencies （100%）， and the reason for this is that nothing is more effective than art to arouse baby's art creativity. The babies in art classes possess more powerful spirit of innovation and more characterized self-expression ability， and this is also the effect that is hoped by patents to achieve.

The parent-child courses and music courses offering rates have reached 90%. Parent-child courses are mainly targeted at the babies of 0-3 years old. Teachers guide parents to gradually instruct babies with the increase of months from the initial curious exploration to imitated identification， independent communication， recognized selection， seeking knowledge by thinking， and interest judgment.

Among these 10 early educational training agencies， 6 of them have offered sports courses. Great numbers of studies indicate that the exercises in the infant period can train the courage， perseverance， and self-control ability of children， and can play a positive role in the development of the future good personalities.

English course offering rate is 60%. In general agencies， English courses are taught bilingually， aiming at providing a foreign language environment for children. However， what is the effect？ This has been questioned by many parents.

3.4 Educational Backgrounds of the Teachers in Early Educational Training Agencies

The investigation （table 4） shows that most teachers in these 10 early educational training agencies graduated from junior colleges or high-level schools， and 40.8% of them attained a bachelor degree. The reason is that these investigated early educational training agencies are well-known brands， and also propose high threshold for the recruitment of teachers， requiring teachers to have an educational background of above junior college and acquire TEM-8 certificate， and giving priority to overseas returnees. Meanwhile， teachers will be interviewed step by step and pass necessary examinations. Therefore， the quality of the faculty is higher.

4 Problems in Early Education Market

In investigation and interviews， it is also found that there are many problems in the early education market.

4.1 Unavailable Normative Industrial Access System， Industrial Guidance and Supervision System

According to relevant provisions， educational department is responsible for the industrial access and management standards for the kindergartens offering early education for children of 3-6 years old， but have no supervisory duties on the educational agencies offering early education for children of 0-3 years old. At present， all sorts of relevant agencies register with an information consulting company or a science and technology development company for commercial operation. However， the special teaching forms of early education make it difficult for commercial departments to control.

4.2 Numerous and Jumbled Working Personnel in Agencies

The working personnel including teachers， businessmen， and unemployed personnel in agencies are numerous and jumbled， and lack self-discipline. Some agencies try to attract demanders with high-grade and luxuriant facilities for concealing the soft disadvantages such as insufficient fault.

4.3 The Early Educational Idea of Agencies Lacks a Localized Deduction

The early educational idea of agencies lacks a localized deduction， and therefore it is hard to avoid the suspicion of blind imitation. Some courses in some international chain early educational agencies are directly copied from foreign countries， giving no consideration to the environmental and cultural differences. As a result， the teaching effect is far from being ideal.

4.4 Paying more attention to Economic Benefit

Most early educational agencies are basically examined and approved by commercial departments and belong to business enterprises that pay more attention to economic benefit. This makes the early educational market encounter many problems such as disorder charges， high prices， false propaganda， and employing unqualified teachers for reducing cost. From charging standards， the early educational services are not supervised by the State Administration of Commodity Prices in educational charges， and therefore the pricing is totally made by early educational agencies themselves according to the industrial standards.

5 Suggestions

First， early education is not a task that can be done overnight. Therefore， its long term makes the test on all early educational agencies enlarged. People in the early educational industry say that the early educational charges are very high at present， but the future profitability is still worrying. Experts suggest that companies are not inadvisable to enter this industry without a long-term development plan. To provide early education， each enterprise has its different ideas and different business model. Therefore， it is necessary for educational enterprises to choose a business management model applicable to their developments， lay a solid foundation at each development stage， and thus make a stable improvement. This is a long-term practice for early educational agencies to attain a sustainable and healthy development.

Second， early education is unable to ensure children more intelligent or more successful in the future， and family love should be the foundation of children education. Therefore， if parents can take more time with their children and set up a safe and close relationship with children， this will become the best early education.

Third， at present， in China， there are no specific standards for evaluating whether early education is effective to the development of the early education for the children of 0-3 years old. Especially， the problem of expensive charges of early educational agencies is not examined by regulators， and therefore whether the charges are reasonable can't be evaluated. Hopefully， the supervision on early education in China can be strengthened.

References

1. Chinese State Council. Chinese Children's Development Program （2001-2010） [N]. People's Daily， 2001， 05， 30 （12）.

2. Zongyi Ding. An Introduction to the Exchange Contents about Children's Health Care at the 23rd Pediatric Conference [J]. Chinese Journal of Practical Pediatrics， 2001， 16 （12）：752-754.

3. Xiaofei Zhou， Chao Huang， Feng Xie， Jiao Guang. Investigation and Analysis on the current situation of early education Training market in Changzhou [J]. 2010， 08.