Background

Shanghai’s Private Education sector has developed rapidly in recent years. There are currently 500 kindergartens, 180 primary schools, 107 middle schools, 3 secondary vocational college, 16 higher vocational colleges, and 4 universities in the private sector.

Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (SMEC) and its affiliated Shanghai Private Education Evaluation Centre would like to improve the quality assurance system of its private schools, with a focus on learning, teaching and management efficiency.

Opportunity

Shanghai Private Education Evaluation Centre, with support from Shanghai’s Municipal Education Commission, is looking for a licensed and highly experienced UK Inspection Institution or Company partner in order to enhance and improve its existing private education evaluation system, through the following collaboration:

• Send two to three UK inspection and evaluation experts to Shanghai to introduce and share their experience of UK private school evaluation, quality assurance, standards and processes. The format could take the form of training programmes, seminars and workshops. The audience will consist of around 100 local evaluation experts from Shanghai. The programme would ideally take place at the end of November or beginning of December and last for three to five days.
• Host a study group of five to eight key evaluation experts from Shanghai to the UK for one to two weeks in January 2016 to study the UK’s private education inspection system.
• Provide advice and consulting services on the design and establishment of a newly-enhanced quality assurance framework for Shanghai private education. Shanghai Municipal Education Commission will choose two or three schools at primary, middle school and college level for a pilot inspection programme in 2016 using a framework designed in partnership with the UK inspection institution.

SMEC and Shanghai Private Education Evaluation Centre has funding available to cover all the necessary costs of the collaboration described above. They also hope to set up a joint Inspection Institution with the UK partner.