China's tiger mums fuel online education boom

New York

HARDLY anyone bothered to learn English when Wu Wenhua was growing up in 1980s China. But now that she has an 11-year-old son, Ms Wu believes knowing the language is key to opening doors.

So Ms Wu, 38, signed Ryan up for an online service, called VIPKid, that connects Chinese grade schoolers with US teachers for one-on-one classes. With Ryan now top of his class at school, Ms Wu is satisfied - or at least as much as a hard-charging Beijing mother can be.

"He recently got 99 out of 100," she says, grimacing slightly.

Parents such as Ms Wu are fuelling an education boom in Chi…