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Today, Mi is 33 and founder of a startup that aims to give Chinese kids the kind of education American children receive in top U.S. schools. Called VIPKid, the company matches Chinese students aged five to 12 with predominantly North American instructors to study English, math, science and other subjects. Classes take place online, typically for two or three 25-minute sessions each week.
Mi is capitalizing on an alluring arbitrage opportunity. In China, there are hundreds of millions of kids whose parents are willing to pay up if they can get high-quality education. In the U.S. and Canada, teachers are often underpaid—and many have quit the profession because they couldn't make a decent living. Growth has been explosive. The three-year-old company started this year with 200 teachers and has grown to 5,000, now working with 50,000 children. Next year, Mi anticipates she'll expand to 25,000 teachers and 200,000 children.
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Thursday December 22 2016, @11:55AM
They do not have to do classes to keep up their credentials (although many will work towards a masters to get a salary increase). They get summers off of course, and teach from generally 9:00-15:30, leaving lots of time for grading, etc, in a normal work day. They typically also have 'free' time during the day because of free time slots, etc. Many will do after-school activities though, which pushes marking to their own time. Here, they also have a fantastic pension plan. I have lots of relatives that are teachers. The only real down-side is being limited in when you can take vacation, although there is a long Christmas break, and spring break in addition to the summer. If you actually like teaching, it's a pretty sweet deal.
My complaint is not so much the money on its own, it's the money combined with the number of people that want to teach. The supply and demand ratio should push down the salaries, allowing more teachers, smaller class-sizes, and better employment.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 22 2016, @02:06PM
The supply and demand ratio should push down the salaries
If China is willing to pay more, then the market value of those teachers is higher than their current salary (which would mean they're currently underpaid).
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Nerdfest on Thursday December 22 2016, @02:39PM
I will put money on China not out-paying Ontario teachers.