Private Tutoring Firm Opens First Center Overseas Amid Sluggish China Demand

Su Huixian and Tang Ziyi:

One of China’s largest private tutoring companies has made a foray into the U.S. as it looks to tap into rising demand from the surging number of Chinese students studying abroad.

The New York-listed TAL Education Group will open its first tutoring center in Silicon Valley, the company announced (link in Chinese) last week on social media. Run by its education agency Think Academy, called Xueersi in Chinese, the company will start an online math class in mid-October targeting elementary school students. It also plans to open offline classes next year at the new center.

In China, students are required to take a standardized test to apply to university. This exam score-focused assessment system has led to a domestic boom in private tutoring centers, as parents fight to improve their children’s chances of getting into an elite school.