Seventy-one foreign universities attending recruitment fair in China

More than 100 representatives from 71 universities and colleges in Canada, Denmark, Japan, Switzerland, Great Britain and the US spoke with students and parents at the 11th Maple Leaf University/College Student Recruitment Fair, which raised its curtain on Saturday in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province.

The University of Toronto, University of Alberta, Queen's University, Miami University, Oxford and University of the Arts, London were among the institutions of higher learning on the participants' list.

"Seeing and speaking with university representatives visualizes the approaching fulfillment of a lifelong dream and goal of many parents for their child – to experience and attain an international English post-secondary education," said Sherman Jen, founder and chairman of Maple Leaf Educational Systems (MLES).

The annual fair is hosted by MLES, a leading player of China's international schools, which now operates 46 schools around the country.

Since the establishment of the first Maple Leaf school in Dalian in 1995, about 10,000 students have graduated from MLES and entered more than 530 universities and colleges in 26 countries and regions. A large number of foreign students entered Chinese universities.

The fair also will be held alternatively at other six Maple Leaf schools in Tianjin, Chongqing, Wuhan, Luoyang, Zhenjiang, and Shanghai until the end of November.

On Friday, Thompson Rivers University of Canada signed a MOU agreement with MLES to cultivate teachers for Maple Leaf schools.

"This is the first such cooperation for TRU around the world. We hope that our cooperation will benefit the Maple Leaf graduates and contribute to the exchange of our two countries," said Alan Shaver, president of Thompson Rivers University.

According to Jen, MLES is cooperating not only with overseas universities to cultivate excellent teachers but also with famous domestic universities to select headmasters to meet the MLES's rapid development.

"The middle class families are growing fast and so do their need for international education of their children. Under such circumstances, many government institutions and real estate developers are trying to cooperate with MLES to run international schools," Jen introduced.

MLES is expected to run more than 70 schools around the country by 2020, he said.

Also on last Friday, MLES signed agreements with Huazhong Normal University, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing Normal University and Beijing Language and Culture University.

These universities will recommend outstanding graduates. With strict training, they will have the chance to become a headmaster within two years at one of the 46 Maple Leaf schools.