Surge in Chinese acquisitions of UK private schools

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/surge-in-chinese-acquisitions-of-uk-private-schools-bpmw7r9d5

by GnolRevilo

21 comments

  2. Great, more of a reason to abolish them altogether

  4. This government is doing a good job of creating the environment for everything British to be sold of to foreign parties.

  5. Have they bought up the universities yet? One way to get their tuition money back

  6. Those brands are valuable in China for the schools they run there. They can have a large chain of schools and tie them to one single school in the UK and sell a dream, whilst making a mint. They won’t want the UK schools to fail, either, so that’ll get them through this long period of economic uncertainty.

  7. Well DUH!!!! This is what happens when national assets are sold off to private investors across the globe… people buy those assets and control them.

    Shocked pilachu face is the face of the 21st century, apparently.

  8. How do they even let this happen? It’s absolutely ridiculous. Same goes for the foreign bloke buying up Royal Mail, foreign firms buying up large news outlets, and I’m sure there’s a thousand other similar instances.

  9. The most worrying aspect is private schools generally have the freedom to study a wider range of subjects than state schools, They could basically teach the kids anything they want. Private schools are not bound by the National Curriculum. This means they have more freedom to design their own curriculum and teach any subject they want.

  10. This is no surprise, especially when wealthy Asian parents send their kids to the UK to go to private school. Of course they’re gonna buy them, everything else is privatised in the UK, why not education?

  11. Agent Starmer’s work on Chagos was perfect, there were issues with the destruction of the steel industry but with the coke mine stuck in legal hell its failure is a matter of time, as is the rest of British industry thanks to Net Zero electricity policy, so this is just another feather in his cap.

    9.2 out of 10 on the Mao scale.

  12. They are being bought because huge amounts of profits can be made from middle class Chinese who want to send their kids to an independent school in the UK.

    Most independent schools here are far cheaper than their Shanghainese equivalent, more lax for the kids and get reputational credit for being ‘British’ because they think private educated Brits are all posh Etonians. Plus cheaper university fees in the long run. 

    So Chinese investors see an opportunity to buy up these assets and fill them with Chinese kids, which they can charge for more money (while remaining competitive in fees compared to Shanghai). Since private schools are struggling, and will struggle more with the VAT introduction, it’s a no brainer  Plus once they own the brand they can open up more sister schools in China with the branding and earn that money too. 

    This is to do with capitalism not brain washing kids lmao. 

  13. If it’s for sale this government should be jumping in, honestly if they passed the collection hat round to do so I’d be chucking in some dosh, anyone else?

  14. So the Brits are replacing the russki money with China money? Or the China money is russki money really still? 

  15. Won’t anyone think of the expensive private schools and the wealthy families that use them?!

  16. I have assets that earn me interest.

    I sell those assets and spend it down the pub.

    I now rent that asset back at a far higher price.

    “Why is everything expensive?”

  17. It won’t be long until we see some changes in their curriculums regarding Hong Kong and Taiwan then…

  18. I’d rather the British economy collapse than sell to the Chinese ..how is this happening without any opposition

  19. The whole country is for sale, down to the last MP. It’s an absolute joke.

  20. Chinese companies can’t make money off schools in China so they’re doing it here instead

  21. Couldn’t care less about private schools. They’re like religious organisations tax them heavily like the businesses they are. If the Chinese want to buy them that’s the nature of business.

    Redesign the school system for the regular folk so it is fit for modern society. That should be the only goal

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