World braces for 'China's century'; what are we doing?

To British business leaders, China really does represent the Far East. But the future of what is being billed "China's Century" is near enough for them to call for Chinese to be taught in British schools and universities.

Currently Britain produces fewer than 500 graduates a year who can speak Mandarin and this is fuelling disquiet among the country's business leaders. They believe that lack of language skills and knowledge of the Chinese market is holding Britain back.

New research by management consultancy the Hay Group shows that British business leaders are anticipating that exports to China will be worth 10 percent of their global revenues, making China their most important export market.

The report's author, Deborah Allday, says Britain faces a war on talent both in the Chinese and domestic job markets which the government needs to urgently address.

"This means not only introducing Chinese language teaching, but fostering an understanding of Asian culture and business practices," she told The Guardian newspaper.

For New Zealand where China is not the Far East but the Near North, the Hay Group study is an indicator of how other western countries are beginning to prepare for China's inescapable economic dominance.

The Preparing for a Future with Asia report by the Asia Knowledge Working Group outlines some of the failings that need to be overcome in our education system to ensure New Zealanders are equipped for the Chinese challenge.
Currently only a few schools offer Chinese and, as the report states, only a small proportion of teachers and school principals have specialist knowledge or understanding about Asia or parts of Asia.

"Most New Zealanders speak only English. There is evidence that New Zealanders see English as the international language and don't see the need to learn Asian languages," the report says.

It also says that the number of Asian specialists within the tertiary education system has declined since 1997. "There are relatively few Asia-related tertiary education courses. And importantly, there are very few Asia-focused business courses."

The Asia New Zealand Foundation believes this trend needs to be reversed. Now is a time when the country needs to be building its Asia expertise - at all levels. It is a matter of urgency. Other countries certainly think so.
Australia has its National Statement for Engaging Young Australians with Asia in Australian Schools - an agreement signed in December last year by the country's nine education ministers.

But such a document needs to be properly resourced to become a reality, so it will be interesting to see how things progress over there.

Meanwhile, the new draft curriculum for New Zealand schools, unveiled by Education Minister Steve Maharey this month, is being seen as a big step forward but it is critical for the country that it incorporates an Asian dimension.
If adopted, schools will have to offer a language option besides English and Maori.

Asian languages will become increasingly important in securing our future economic and strategic prosperity - and none more so than Chinese.

But New Zealand needs to be mindful that there also needs to be studies of Asia across the curriculum so that all students gain a good general knowledge of the region, not just the relatively small numbers who will study an Asian language.

It's a real no-brainer.