Learning program breaks into China

By YOKE HAR LEE

A New Zealand-developed internet learning program, Galaxy Kids, has gained entry to the Chinese market through a partnership with Beijing Everlasting Infosystem.

The partnership will allow publisher Wendy Pye Group to set up a joint venture with Beijing Everlasting to market the program to China's schools and upwardly mobile families.

Everlasting already sells millions of dollars worth of internet learning programs.

The company intends to run a mirror site of Galaxy Kids, tapping not only the school market but adult Mandarin speakers learning English.

The partnership is a coup for Wendy Pye Group, considering Everlasting shopped worldwide for such a product.

The managing director of Everlasting, Fu Ming, told the Business Herald that trial runs of Galaxy Kids would start in a kindergarten, two primary schools and two secondary schools in Beijing.

"Every middle school in China teaches English, while some primary schools teach English," said Mrs Fu. "We will first try to modify the product for a market whose mother tongue is Mandarin."

She said Galaxy Kids was "the best product in the market that I have ever seen."

Mrs Fu, who travelled to New Zealand with Wang Ben Zhong from China's Ministry of Education, said Mr Wang was impressed with the educational quality of Galaxy Kids.

They visited Bayview Primary School in Glenfield, Auckland, to look at how the school integrates the program with other learning material.

The Chinese Government last year budgeted 600 million yuan ($142 million) to develop online education. Local governments top that up.

Wendy Pye said the partnership was an endorsement from one of China's leading internet-based companies that New Zealand was a leader in cyberspace learning.

"This puts us in the driver's seat, encouraging us to work alongside them on other products.

"It also gives us an opportunity to work alongside an entrepreneurial company in China. They already sell millions of dollars of courses to schools."

Galaxy Kids, which cost over $1 million to develop, is already available in Australia, Britain, Argentina and Korea.