In 1854 Wing Yung became the first Chinese graduate from an American university. Since then the journey to the west has been trod by countless young Chinese intent on, as Deng XiaoPing put it, ‘learn[ing] knowledge and truth from the West in order to save China’. 

1854 年，容闳成为第一位从美国大学毕业的中国人。从那时起，无数中国年轻人踏上了去西方求学之路，正如邓小平所说，"向西方学习知识和真理拯救中国"。

On assuming power in 1978 Deng said of the overseas market in education, ‘rather than just sending a handful of students, we should send thousands of them’. His vision soon became a reality. In 2019 some 703,000 young Chinese citizens headed to universities overseas.

1978 年上任后，邓小平在谈到海外教育市场时说，"要成千成万地派，不是只派十个八个"。他的愿景很快成为现实。2019 年，约有 70.3 万名中国青年前往海外大学学习。

Despite the dislocations of the last four years this trend looks like continuing. The China Daily reported on 9 Aug 2023 that, ‘the number of Chinese students studying abroad this year is likely to reach or even exceed the level hit in 2019’. 

尽管过去四年全球形式发生了一些变化，但这一趋势似乎仍在继续。据《中国日报》2023 年 8 月 9 日报道，"今年出国留学的中国学生人数很可能达到甚至超过 2019 年的水平"。

So why do Chinese parents still think an international education is worth the significant investment that it requires?

那么，为什么中国家长仍然认为国际教育值得投入巨资呢？

It has been clear for some thirty years that China is becoming not just a global player but, certainly in the Asian sphere of influence, the leading player. Recent Trade Wars with the US merely reflect the growing status of China an economic and technological powerhouse.

近三十年来，中国显然已不仅仅是一个全球参与者，而是亚洲范围内的领军者。在与美国的贸易战中，中国作为经济和技术强国的地位日益提高也得到了体现。

An education that prepares young people for careers in global finance, business and governance makes complete sense of the geo-politics of the 21st century. International education at school and university level – if the curriculum and pedagogy are well constructed – produce young people who not only speak Chinese and English fluently, but also understand and embrace the culture of their Chinese inheritance, as well as the global history, politics and philosophy of the western mindset and world order. 

由此，培养年轻人进入全球金融、商业和管理行业的教育完全符合 21 世纪的地缘政治情况。如果课程和教学方法设计得当，中小学和大学的国际教育培养出来的年轻人不仅能掌握流利的中文和英文，还能传承中国文化，了解全球历史、理解西方思维和世界秩序下的政治和哲学。

Obtaining these skills in a local situation in China close to family and fully integrated into the social, economic and political culture of China is such an advantage. It means that a young person going through schools like the ones that have been set up by ISA is in a position to, quite literally, have the best of both worlds. 

而在中国本土环境中获得这些国际性学习资源并掌握这些技能，可以完全融合中国的社会、经济和政治文化，这是中国国际教育的一个独特优势。这意味着在像爱莎系的国际学校里学习的年轻人可以真正做到中西结合。

The situation that we have all faced over the last four years has changed the political, economic and social landscape in which education in China takes place. School closures during the pandemic not only developed a new set of online skills for schools and students, but also opened the door for political change that has made international schooling in China less accessible. 2021 reforms that limited entry into private schools to only 5% of the catchment have meant that many international facing schools have either closed or realigned their curriculum.

我们在过去四年中所面临的形势已经改变了中国教育所处的政治、经济和社会环境。新冠疫情期不仅让传统教育方式发生了改变，学校和学生转向线上教学，也让变革应运而生，使国际教育在中国面临了前所未有的困难和挑战。在2021年，教育改革将民办学校的招生规模控制在5%以内，这意味着许多国际学校要么关闭，要么只能重新调整课程。

One of the huge advantages that ISA has as a group of schools is that it is multi-curricula, offering the Chinese National Curriculum as well as an international curriculum to foreign passport holders. Yet on all its campuses the pedagogy and values deliberately conform to world best practise and help each student develop their intellectual thinking skills, sometimes referred to as the 4 Cs: communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. These soft skills are of universal importance and will be foundational to the success of all economies as the 21st century unfolds.

作为一个教育集团，爱莎的巨大优势之一是拥有多元融合的课程，能为外籍人员子女提供中国国家课程和国际课程。爱莎所有校区的教学法和价值观都与世界上的教育实践保持一致，促进每个学生的思维和 “四力”（沟通力、协作力、创造力和批判性思维能力）发展。这些软技能在 21 世纪至关重要，将成为世界所有经济体取得成功的基础。

World politics at the moment is at a place of much uncertainty with war in the Ukraine and now a rekindling of the Arab-Israeli crisis in Gaza. Asia, too, is not without its tensions. Global warming and the drive for a sustainable way of living will be the portion of every child, indeed every person, as we move forward. 

当前世界局势动荡，乌克兰战事不断，阿以加沙危机重燃，亚洲也不乏紧张局势。向未来迈进，我们还将面对全球变暖等一系列未知挑战，推动可持续发展将成为每个孩子、每个人的确实责任。

It is to those children that have developed a broad understanding of global issues, who have invested in the language skills to communicate with the world, and have the thinking skills to be able to address the most complex of problems, that the future lies.

而正是那些对全球问题有广泛了解的孩子，那些投身语言学习与世界沟通的孩子，以及那些具备解决最复杂问题的思维能力的孩子，才是未来的希望所在。

Students coming to ISA schools are being prepared for just such a world. The new STEAM centres that are being established across the schools in conjunction with a rich curriculum, and a huge investment in teacher development means that students do not have to leave China for international education. It can have one right here in Guangdong and Wuhan.

接受爱莎教育的学子正是在为面对未来的世界做准备。爱莎各学校正在建立新的 STEAM 中心，结合提供的丰富的课程，不断强化的人才储备和师资队伍，让学生在中国本土，在广东和武汉，就能获得优质的国际教育。