Database of social entrepreneurs impacting China’s education sector

The National Outline for Education Reform stipulates an increase of the federal education budget to 4% of China’s GDP by 2012. Vice Minister of Finance Ding Xuedong calls this “challenging because other sectors such as agriculture, science and technology, health care and social security need investment, too”.

China’s education expenditure – central and local governments combined – has risen by an even more spectacular figure than its GDP: close to 22% year-on-year during the most recent reporting period. During the same term, the number of children not having access to primary education has fallen by only 1.6% to a still staggering 7.5% of all children aged 6 to 7 years. Looking at education quality indicators, the amount of teachers per student shows no notable improvement either, and on some educational levels, such as vocational schools and universities, even more students have to share one teacher.

Most Chinese will bank on both central and local governments to solve the surging inequality between those with abundant and others with no access to education. However, a small group of entrepreneurs decided to get involved in the subject matter by investing in disadvantaged Chinese citizens’ education to grow them out of their hopeless situation. Social entrepreneurship, particularly with focus on educating disadvantaged people, is a new but steadily developing concept in China. The following list is work in progress and aims to help social funds gain access to interesting investment opportunities in China and to give ideas to those planning to start their own social enterprise in education. The list is sorted by the year of establishment with the most recent foundation at the top.

Managers of the ventures we investigated were not always clear in their own definition of their organisations. However, we tried to spot indicators toward profit-orientation, even if only visible in the respective founder’s vision. Hence, some of them might, by strict definition, fall into the category of a classic NGO.

Please submit new entries or modifications to social AT totuba DOT com

Social entrepreneurs impacting China’s education sector

Collective Responsibility

• Established: 2009
• Social entrepreneur: Richard Brubaker
• Scope: To improve the quality of student decision making over the long term with respect to CSR and sustainability; Aims to accomplish this through a multilayered platform of clubs, curriculums, internships and academic conferences; Already cooperating with several key participants; Aims to have 10 schools participating in the 2010/2011 school year, and 25 schools in the 2011/2012 school year.
• Headquartered in: Hong Kong; office in Shanghai

Be Better

• Established: 2009
• Social entrepreneurs: Zhang Wei and Wang Sheng
• Scope: To develop and deliver supplementary courses to students (aged 5 to 22) with migration background or living in rural areas through a network of volunteers and the Internet; Courses revolve around social competencies, critical thinking and basic finance skills needed to become responsible citizens who act collectively for a better world.
• Headquartered in: Shanghai

Qifang

• Established: 2008
• Social entrepreneur: Calvin Chin
• Scope: To provide loans to financially underprivileged students; Focuses on students of 3 or 4-year academic programs; Lenders are banks, companies, NGOs, non-profit organisations, philanthropists and individuals seeking investment returns.
• Headquartered in: Shanghai

Xingeng Workshop

• Established: 2007
• Social entrepreneur: Vincent Chu
• Scope: To educate disadvantaged people living in rural areas to manufacture handicrafts their provinces are known for and sell those with profit to visitors or corporate organisations.
• Headquartered in: Shanghai

Hand in Hand Heart Restaurant

• Established: 2007
• Social entrepreneur: Zhao Dongyue
• Scope: To train mentally disabled graduates from special education schools to become regular restaurant workers and lead an integrated live.
• Headquartered in: Beijing

Stepping Stones

• Established: 2006
• Social entrepreneur: Corinne Hua, a consultant with CSR&Company (a CSR consulting company), who brings to the programme 17 years of corporate, NGO and consulting experience in China
• Employees: 1 director, 3 paid employees
• Scope: A grass roots programme designed by local, long term volunteers in Shanghai to assist migrant school children in Shanghai with their English. Mission Statements: To assist students in migrant schools in Shanghai to gain confidence in their English language abilities; To help these students pass their key examinations; To offer volunteers a meaningful way to contribute to the education of under-privileged children.
• Headquartered in: Shanghai

Shokay International Group

• Established: 2006
• Social entrepreneurs: Carol Chyau and Marie So
• Employees: 15 full-time, 40 hand knitters, 260 herder families
• Scope: Shokay, the world’s first lifestyle brand focused on the yak, features adult and home collections made from fine yak down. Shokay prides itself not only on its classic and modern designs, but also its social impact. Yak down, comparable in warmth and softness to cashmere, is sourced from Tibetan herders in Qinghai which are trained how to comb the best fiber. Part of the product line is hand-knit by women living in rural areas of China, enabling marginalised populations to earn a sustainable living.
• Headquartered in: Shanghai

My Course Online Education

• Established: 2006
• Social entrepreneur: Liu Yiguang
• Scope: To provide distance learning (Open University model) to low-income citizens who cannot afford studying at a brick and mortar university.
• Headquartered in: Beijing

Rural China Education Foundation (RCEF)

• Established: 2005
• Social entrepreneurs: Sara Lam, Diane Geng, Wei Ji Ma
• Scope: To partner with teachers in rural primary schools to develop locally-relevant teaching methods that develop rural children’s (grades 1-6) self-confidence, communication skills, independent thinking, empathy, and awareness of social issues; Staff who are based year-round in rural schools help local teachers to develop and document their teaching so that lessons learned and case studies can be used to train more teachers and organizations working in rural primary schools.
• Headquartered in: Yongji, Shanxi Province

Hands On China

• Established: 2004
• Social entrepreneur: Richard Brubaker
• Scope: Large platform for managing volunteers in Shanghai, Chengdu, Hong Kong, who participate in a range of activities related to children’s health, education, environment, and elderly care; Several large programs specific to education with migrant schools and street based organizations to deliver both educational content as well as programs that build confidence and character within the kids.
• Headquartered in: Hong Kong; offices in Shanghai and Chengdu

Hua Dan Workshop

• Established: 2004
• Social entrepreneur: Caroline Watson
• Scope: Personal, social and economic empowerment of China’s migrant and rural population through participation in and leadership of inspirational, arts-based projects; To train migrant workers to be professional arts practitioners, project managers and branch leaders of Hua Dan, lifting them out of poverty and enabling them to participate equally in the mainstream society; Inspirational workshops delivered in partnership with community organisations and commercial enterprises; Cooperation with outstanding arts practitioners to ensure a constant commitment to innovation in how the arts can be applied to achieve personal and social transformation.
• Headquartered in: Beijing

Sowosky

• Established: 2003
• Social entrepreneur: Li Zhaowei
• Scope: To connect graduates of social science programs with potential employers.
• Headquartered in: Shanghai

Fuping Housekeeping Vocational School

• Established: 2002
• Social entrepreneurs: Mao Yushi and Tang Min
• Scope: Through vocational and social training, to help disadvantaged people from rural areas to get access to employment or reemployment opportunities; Collaborates with local offices of poverty alleviation and women’s unions; Charges tuition fee (borne by students) and agency fees (borne by employer); Tuition fee is lower than the actual cost and compensated by local governments’ poverty alleviation funds; Profits are re-invested in the organisation.
• Headquartered in: Fuping

Shanghai Roots and Shoots

• Established: 1999
• Social entrepreneur: Tori Zwisler
• Employees: 13 full-time, 1 part-time
• Scope: R&S provides after school environmental conservation and sustainability education to student groups in over 200 schools in the greater Shanghai area; Students learn to grow organic gardens, lead awareness campaigns in their schools, conduct environmental audits in their community, and fund raise to plant trees in desertification areas; Programs are informal education necessary to foster the future leaders of China who will have a deep understanding of the relationship of human actions and the environment.
• Headquartered in: Shanghai

Rural Women

• Established: 1998
• Social entrepreneur: Xie Lihua
• Scope: Aims to provide information, training and services to migrant women from rural areas and in cities to empower them to build capacity for self-development and achieve sustainable development; Three branches: the Practical Skills Training Center for Rural Women provides short-term training that will enable women from poor families to learn practical skills as well as to build their general abilities which will ultimately enable them to improve their social and economic development and participate fully in society; The Migrant Women’s Club aims to uphold migrant women’s civil and labour rights and improve their living qualities and abilities of self-development; The Rural Development Program aims to help rural women acquire basic skills, get psychological counselling to prevent suicide, and promote women’s participation in the government.
• Headquartered in: Beijing

Beijing Stars and Rains Education Research Institute

• Established: 1993
• Social entrepreneur: Tian Huiping
• Scope: Dedicated to serving children with autism and related disabilities; Behavioural analysis-based training of autistic children and their parents; To enable parents to educate their autistic children; Fees subsidised by government,  private organisations and the public; Established a fund for their teachers to receive professional training from foreign experts and to study in other organisations.
• Headquartered in: Beijing

Organisations dealing with social entrepreneurship in China

• China Social Entrepreneur Foundation
• Social Innovation Initiative

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