A Path Finder and Game Changer in American-style Education Services

- Rise Immersion Subject English Upgrades "Comprehensive K-12 Curriculum System"

BEIJING, Dec. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 14th, 2017, Rise Immersion Subject English (NASDAQ: REDU) held a press conference in Beijing with the theme of "New Beginning, New Vision". The company launched its newly upgraded "Comprehensive K-12 Curriculum System", unveiled its brand-new "RISE Up" Online U.S. High School Courses, and introduced its high-end overseas education services offered by its newly acquired Hong Kong-based The Edge Learning Center.

With these new products, RISE (Rise Immersion Subject English) has achieved a comprehensive curriculum system for Chinese children ages 3-18 utilizing a blended learning methodology. As an industrial leader noted for its profound insight in American-style education, RISE once again serves as a path finder with this strategic initiative.

Dr. Larrie Reynolds, superintendent of Mount Olive School District in New Jersey; Ms. Wang Lihong, chairman of RISE and managing director and global partner of Bain Capital Asia Limited; Mr. Sun Yiding, CEO of RISE; Sally Yuan, senior vice president of academics of RISE; and Mr. Duc Luu, CEO of The Edge all were in attendance at the conference. Joining them on this momentous occasion were representatives from top media agencies and dozens of industry partners.

Newly Added Online American High School Courses Offer High School Credits Recognized by US Universities

Building upon its 2016 comprehensive "Rise+" upgrade strategy, RISE launched its upgraded "K-12 Comprehensive Curriculum System," which includes its existing American Kindergarten Courses "RISE Start", its American Elementary School Courses "RISE On", its American Middle School Courses "RISE Up", and its newly developed American High School Courses for students in grades 9-12.

RISE's "RISE Up" Online High School Courses cover subjects of S.T.E.M., Natural Sciences, American Studies and Sociology, all taught by U.S. high school teachers, and offers U.S. high school credits. The Online LMS (Learning Management System) encourages participants to develop skills in self-learning and time management, with online Q&A sessions to meet individualized learning needs. The 1-on-5 small group classes offer a unique teaching method that offers students an exclusive learning environment that nurtures the exchange of ideas and develops communication and teamwork skills. The course is further enhanced with a 2-week intensive summer course, where U.S. teachers come and give the students a genuine experience of an American classroom in China.

Furthermore, RISE uses big data to track students' learning progress and communicate with parents in order to adopt an entire closed-loop supervisory system which will aid students to reach the top 100 American universities in the future.

"With a blended learning method, the newly launched 'RISE Up' Online American High School Curriculum will meet the individualized, diversified, and comprehensive learning needs of the participants," said Sally Yuan, the senior VP of Academics at RISE. "When developing this curriculum, RISE worked closely with numerous top-notch U.S. high schools and universities so that more children in China could have access to authentic American education as well as opportunities and channels to explore the rest of the world."

Acquisition of High-end Overseas Education Services Provides Ivy League Resources to Participants of 18+

The growing numbers of "Generation Z" and "two-child policy generation" in China are resulting in an explosive demand for overseas education over the next five years. Such demand, which used to be concentrated at the postgraduate levels, is expected to redistribute evenly across postgraduate, undergraduate, and K-12 levels. In 2006, the total number of outbound students from China totaled 134,000 in 2006, of which over 60% were working for master's degree, while a mere 1.5% were at the K-12 level. The figure stood at 587,000 in 2017, which is more or less evenly distributed among the three categories. The figure is going to exceed 775,000 by 2022, when the K-12 takes the lion's share while the two categories of K-12 and undergraduate combined will account for 67% of the total. (Source: Frost & Sullivan, "China Junior English Language Training Market Study")

Based on the understanding of the overall market trend, RISE acquired The Edge (Hong Kong), a high-end overseas education institution, shortly after it listed on NASDAQ. This move marked RISE's entry into the high-end overseas education market. The Edge's customized training services will aid Chinese children in making their way into the top U.S. universities, thus paving a new path of cross-cultural development.

The Edge Education, which has already been providing high-end overseas education services for many years, boasts rich resources in overseas education and a sound panel of experts. It maintains close relationships with many Ivy League schools and other top institutions in the world. As a respected leader in international education services in Hong Kong, The Edge successfully matriculated most of its trainees in Ivy League schools and other top 50 universities in the U.S.

The American kindergarten program for 3-5-year-olds, the American elementary school program for 6-12-year-olds, and the American high school program for 13-18-year-olds, along with a major shift from "offline" to "blended" learning methodology, enabled RISE to build a Comprehensive K-12 Curriculum System for children from 3-18 years old. The acquisition of the overseas education services, The Edge, has empowered RISE to be a one-stop service provider for cultivating the future leaders of the world.

New Methods for Personal Development

The market for K-12 English education in China swelled from 13.4 million in 2012 to 17.7 million in 2016. It is expected to hit a record high of 31 million by 2022. High-quality K-12 English education resources will be in short supply. In the recent years, the popularization of mobile technology and the massive market entry of capital powers ushered in a surge of teaching resources from abroad that partially filled the gap with online teaching and training. Pure online courses, however, can be frustrating due to high delays, poor interactions, management difficulties, and poor assessment results.

As a product-driven company, RISE has always taken user needs as its base point, maintaining a high level of investment in curriculum development and innovation, constantly developing and enhancing its blended learning approach through its swift adoption of new technologies. With innovation and upgrades through VR, AR, and other technologies, learning experiences at RISE are constantly enhanced so that children can learn effectively in an immersive English environment. In addition to cultivating practical language skills based on English thinking patterns, RISE will seek further cross-disciplinary development by incorporating subjects of science, mathematics, arts, etc.

"RISE successfully embarked on its NASDAQ journey two months ago, and this is not the end but a new beginning. Successful listing is affirmation from the customers and the industry that RISE's operations over the past decade were just, yet there are still many uncharted waters. Private education and training services, especially education for young children and the K-12 level, are gaining more attention from the government, the general public, and investors. RISE, as the pioneer of "subject English," is searching for better ways to enable more families and young people to have richer options for growth, to experience more effective learning, and more opportunities for their future by ensuring the quality in its products and services," stated Mr. Sun.

As a leader in American-style education, Rise Immersion Subject English will continue to focus on building a learning management system, developing new products, and enhancing current services. With these upgrades, RISE aspires to help even more families and young people in China to have more choices in the ever-increasing competitive global environment.

SOURCE Rise