NEW DELHI, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- China's education minister is visiting local universities and schools in India in search of language teachers to meet the growing demand for English in China.
Zhou Ji and his team are arranging tie-ups with Indian universities and institutes. In some cases English teachers will go to China to teach Chinese students; in others the students will visit India to study, New Delhi's NDTV reported Thursday.
Chinese students increasingly feel they need English classes to guarantee academic and career success, but the school system cannot meet the demand.
"We want to start teaching from the third grade, but where are the teachers?" the minister said.
Zhou was reportedly impressed with the high educational standards in India, and amazed at the English-speaking skills of Indian students.
India tends to outshine China in two areas -- software and outsourcing of manpower. The success in both areas is due to Indians' proficiency in English.
Experts say the craze for learning English is not limited just to China but to other South Asian countries as well.
