While he encourages students to try various paths to success, Yu would never
call himself successful.
"A career must always develop and so must a man. You can never call a living
man a success, it is only when he goes to his eternal rest that a judgment can
be made," Yu says.
"My next aim is to build New Oriental into a model for China's private
education," says Yu, who sports a crew cut and casual wear in his office in
northwestern downtown Beijing.
Private education is not new in China. Confucius is said to have started the
tradition of private education in the 6th century B.C.. Chinese entrepreneurs
are building private schools to cash in on a national obsession with learning.
Today private schools come in all shapes and sizes, from small primary
schools run by idealistic retired teachers to fully-fledged accredited
vocational colleges with thousands of students.
But many went bankrupt after failing to deliver both profit and good
education.
Yu, however, is not afraid of failure. "Ups and downs are part and parcel of
a career. Falling over is not a problem. What you learn in the process is
invaluable, it can help you start over," Yu says.
"The private education industry in China is still poorly organized," Yu says.
Yu attributes his school's success to its quality teachers and unique
enterprise culture.
"We recruit talented teachers and grow them in various ways including funding
them to study abroad."
"Besides academic qualifications, all teachers must be passionate, inspiring
and humorous when they interact with students."
"Any successful enterprise has a unique formula. New Oriental's formula
includes its tenet of inspiring the students, a humorous teaching style,
emphasis on the culture behind the language and prolonged study of exam
techniques," says Xu Xiaoping, a popular teacher in New Oriental.
"The encouraging and humorous teachers here give me the courage to pursue my
studies," writes New Oriental student Chen Zhiming on the school website.
