Mr Yu: In preparation for private universities, rural children are the key admissions target

The new Oriental Science and Technology Education Group, the largest private education and training group in China, spent a restless summer. The NYSE-listed new Oriental, which announced the realignment of the VIE structure (Variable interest entities) in July this year, has been a new prey for the US securities Research (Muddy Waters Study), after the US SEC investigation, which was the first to be the U.S. 's shorting agency, Share prices fell from $22 a share to $9.5 a week. New Oriental fought back. After an independent inquiry into executive stock buybacks and the establishment of a special Committee, the company clarified all allegations of muddy Waters in October and was approved by the SEC, and its share price was gradually returning to $19 in four months. After this battle, how does Mr Yu, founder and chairman of New Oriental, feel about it? What I was thinking was that new Oriental must win, and that investors around the world would have confidence in Chinese companies, "he said in an interview. Mr Yu is determined to win the fight against Muddy Waters, except for his belief in the "red shoots" of the new Oriental and his life experience and positive personality that has taught him to see the sun in the dark. When he was expelled from the university 20 years ago and founded the new Oriental English Training School, Mr Yu faced much more pressure than he did today. At present, the new Oriental has grown into China's largest private education and training group, with a total of 55 schools, 32 bookstores and 609 learning centers nationwide. In the Forbes 2012 China Rich List, Mr Yu's personal assets amounted to $1 billion trillion. "As long as the struggle, life will be brilliant"-this is known as "college Soul Teacher", every year in the national colleges and universities to do hundreds of speeches Yu Yu has been adhering to the concept of life. Mr Yu, who has just reached the age of 50, has not ceased. After 20 years of founding the education enterprise, he has a more profound understanding to the connotation and goal of education, to how to shape and cultivate the young people, meanwhile, his enthusiasm to the cause of education is always the same. Mr Yu's new dream is to start a private liberal arts university that encourages general education and humanist spirit. In his exclusive interview with the Wharton Knowledge online, Mr Yu talked about his thoughts on the fight against Muddy Waters and on the planning of private universities, educational ideas and student employment. The following is an edited version of the interview: Wharton Online: In July this year, the new Oriental was attacked by the U.S. short of the muddy water research, the share price plummeted, how did you react? Mr Yu: As a listed company, first of all, to comply with the rules and requirements of listed companies. After the listing of fraud, cynical is not the new Oriental style. So I'm not worried about the attack on muddy water, because the new Oriental is absolutely fine. Whether it is corporate governance, financial data, consolidated statements and internal management, we are in compliance with U.S. regulatory requirements for listed companies, in line with the regulations including Sarbanes-Oxley (Sarbanes Oxley (2002) Regulations). The New Oriental isEC investigation and muddy water attack, there are two main reasons. First, companies like muddy water are attacking and shorting Chinese companies for their own profit. They have been able to do so repeatedly in the last few days, and frankly, some companies in the Chinese concept stocks do have financial loopholes. But rotten companies, after all, are limited, they are now forced to expand the scope of the attack, out of nowhere to find new targets, behind the interests of the drive. The second issue is the VIE structure of Chinese companies. Vie refers to a Chinese domestic company structure, which is authorized to be entrusted to overseas institutions and listed by overseas institutions. Since the Chinese government has never made a clear statement about the VIE structure, the structure has a vacuum at the regulatory level. And some changes in Chinese companies, such as last year's Alibaba Group's Alipay equity transfer, made the VIE structure a foreign investor's preoccupation with Chinese companies listing overseas. In fact, I never thought about cutting foreign companies and domestic companies, because it would hurt the interests of foreign investors. The adjustment made by new Oriental to strengthen the overseas vie structure was interpreted by the Americans as a sign of possible retreat in the future. We have then explained that the SEC has also given recognition that the new Oriental is fine in October, so our stock has returned to $19 from the lowest 9 yuan. Wharton Online: Why are you so confident about the innocence of the new oriental? Mr Yu: First of all, what we do is to train the education business, so from the first day, every penny can be said very clearly. There is no collusion between business and power, money trading, there is no dark behind, can be described as the root red Miaozheng. Second, we have managed to standardize and have never been financially fraudulent. Third, the new Oriental is a company with values and ideals, which is very important. Because a lot of Chinese bosses, the only purpose of doing the company is to make money, no matter what to do, as long as the money on the line. I can do a lot of money, but did not do it, because I know, once done, will involve the right money transactions, will involve collusion between business and commerce. There are ideals to do business and no ideal to do business, the way is not the same. My values are hoping to do something to help others. New Oriental let a lot of children love to learn more, send them to overseas universities to study, changed the fate of many families, which makes me very fulfilling, and very happy. I hope that new Oriental is a respected and culturally influential educational institution. Wharton Online: What experience has the new Oriental learned from this round of attack and counterattack? Mr Yu: Going through something like this will make a company more mature. Because in the face of this situation, you are either knocked down, disappear, or even more sunshine, people trust you more. We want investors around the world to see that Chinese companies are innocent. When we try to do it, we are not doing it for a new Oriental institution. What we were actually thinking was that the new Oriental must win, and we must tell the Americans that there is no problem with the new Oriental and that investors all over the world have confidence in Chinese companies. Wharton Knowledge Online: You in the public fieldHe said that he was preparing a private university, what is the current progress? Mr Yu: First of all, to solve the campus problem. There are two possibilities now. First, land acquisition and construction of a new school, the other way is to acquire a private university. I prefer the first option. But since the government approved a lot of university towns ten years ago, and later found that there were many loopholes in management, the local governments are very cautious about approving universities. I am still trying to apply to the Beijing municipal government, hoping that they can authorize me to build a small private university, or there is a certain possibility. If the first road is really out of line, I will consider acquiring an existing private university. China currently has more than 300 private private universities, some of them operating difficulties, some financial strength is not enough, some originally thought can engage in real estate, but because the current policy does not allow the university city to do real estate, so willing to look for buyers. Because I want to run this university in Beijing, so it is much more difficult, but there is hope. Wharton Online: Can you tell me something about the policy and educational philosophy of this private university? Mr Yu: Basically, my policy is to train "independent personality, Free thought". The first is to cultivate children's independent personality and ability to think independently, and secondly, to give them freedom to think, study and innovate. I hope to take some universities in Europe and America to let students really free development of the school system. In addition, this university is not a general university, but also a small arts and sciences (Liberal Arts College), focusing on the children's humanistic spirit and scientific spirit of training. Wharton Knowledge Online: How to understand the "humanist spirit"? How to cultivate students ' humanistic spirit? Mr Yu: I emphasize "general education". To make students become a good talent, first of all to let him "Tong", This "tong" is the general education. The university should cultivate the all-round development of people, not only to cultivate professional talents. I hope that college students in the one or two grade compulsory courses can cover the arts, philosophy, sociology, economics, mathematics and other universal disciplines. Should science and engineering students not learn art history? Of course, should learn, not as a professional to learn, but to cultivate his art, aesthetic interest and appreciation. Is it not necessary for liberal arts to learn logic and statistics? Exercising a person's mathematical head, including logical thinking, is important to anyone's long-term development. "Humanist Spirit", mainly is to cultivate a student to contain the world, to save the people's feelings, with a conscience of the heart to treat the development of the world, and a sense of responsibility to bring the world to a better state. Wharton Online: What do you think is the problem of university education in China? Mr Yu: China's universities are still taking exams as the core, too quick for the buck. It is not enough to cultivate students ' deep research ability and independent learning motivation. Many students review for two weeks, they will be able to take the exam, the exam to pass the semester is over. But what did he really learn? Another important issue is the administration of Chinese universities. The collar of Chinese universitiesThe leader is appointed by the government, which leads to a large number of university leaders who aim to be officials rather than the school, which is the most fundamental problem of Chinese universities. I want my school to be able to get the professors elected to govern the school. Of course in management caliber and degree certificate I must have concessions, to be recognized by the relevant State departments. Wharton Online: What are the drawbacks of college education in the United States? Mr Yu: Frankly, the problem is not so serious. The United States has always been at the forefront of educational reform, and after they have problems, error correction is very fast. For example, innovative education, there is no innovative education in American universities, because many universities are created from religious backgrounds, religion and innovation have a certain degree of exclusion. But you see from Harvard, Yale, Stanford to the British Oxford so ancient university, they have a first-class sense of innovation, to develop a lot of Nobel Prize winners. So their ability to update themselves is particularly strong and worthy of our study. In addition, the European and American University student selection mechanism is more fair and balanced, for example, Harvard University is not because in Boston to recruit more Boston students, and the Beijing University enrollment is a sharp tilt to students. I hope my school can recruit students in a balanced way across the country. So on the whole, I prefer to bring the school system closer to American private universities. Wharton Knowledge Online: Where does the faculty of the new university come from? Mr Yu: I think the faculty is not difficult to solve. First we will identify subjects and professions and then recruit the best professors around the world based on these professions. Draw them with your teaching system and educational ideas, while giving the highest pay, economic conditions and superstructure to other institutions. Just as I attracted a great gang of people to new Oriental wasteland more than 10 years ago, so did the founding of the university. When the professors find that they share my interests and are satisfied with the teaching conditions, they will naturally be willing to work together to support me in achieving this ideal. Wharton Online: Humanities in today's workplace is not mainstream, do you worry about the employment of humanities graduates? Mr Yu: Don't worry. You see lawyers and economists with high incomes and strong demand. Mo Yan is a master of arts and literature, not a Nobel Prize, Dan is a graduate of the Chinese department, and is now a success. So without saying which subject graduated will certainly not find a job. The key is that college education should lay a foundation for one's knowledge and ability. Wherever someone likes and wants to learn, there is a stage for future activities. The liberal arts students in the United States are also a lot more than half and rarely hear of liberal arts students being starved to death. On the other hand, I always think that if a country does not have a civil service system and there is no top level of liberal arts talent, there is no hope for this country. Because of the succession of the spirit of a nation, the inheritance of culture, and the level of core management personnel are closely related to the students of Liberal Arts. You see most of the new Politburo Standing Committee is still the engineer background, so I think China is still at the stage of a technology governance ... When the Standing Committee entered half of the engineers, half of the liberal arts students, China will enter a balanced development of the state. Wharton Knowledge Online:How will the education funding of this university be sustained? Mr Yu: The first money must come from me. Since I want to be a university, I must donate my money and put it in. But my first outlay must not run for 100 years, so it is necessary to establish a mechanism to make donations to the friends of the surrounding entrepreneurs to keep the university running. The famous private universities in the United States basically rely on a set of social donation mechanism. China must have such a donation mechanism, otherwise there will be no private universities in China, and there will always be a public university bound by the administrative system, so it is less likely to build a first-class university and cultivate top talent in China. Wharton Online: I hear you will start this university will be mainly facing the rural areas of enrollment? Mr Yu: Rural children should be my main target for enrollment, but not all. For example, 50% of students may come from wealthy families and 50% from poor families. There will be a balance. Wharton Knowledge Online: 30 years of reform and opening up, the gap between rich and poor gradually widened. At the same time, the employment of college students is more difficult. What kind of role do you think college education can play? Mr Yu: The question, to be exact, is not just a question of college education. The state has the responsibility to let students from small to high school access to a balanced education resources, that is, the quality of education and the level of teachers should be similar. This gives them equal opportunities to compete and get promoted to college. But the problem now is that elementary school to high school basic education resources in the country is uneven development, and a region of high-quality education resources are also occupied by the local elite children. This leads to further inequalities. If the children of the underdeveloped areas do not get a good education, they may not have the opportunity to go to the best universities. This is a key issue. To narrow the gap between the rich and the poor through higher education, my suggestion is that the country can take two routes, one is to increase the number of scholarships and grants, so that children in poor areas can afford university, and secondly, to encourage the emergence of private universities, so that the quality of education resources to achieve balanced development. Now there is a fatal argument that education is useless. Some short-sighted parents think that college education is useless because some college graduates cannot find jobs and return to rural employment. There are many factors behind this phenomenon. But I always think that, despite the temporary absence of work, as long as you really learned in college, with substantial growth, your future growth potential is certainly more than the uneducated people. Wharton Knowledge Online: Now a lot of highly educated people such as PhD graduates can not find a job, how do you see this problem? Mr Yu: If I were to go to the doctor, I would definitely have a definite goal, like I'd like to study the field for the rest of my life, and in the future, no matter how poor I am, The doctor's reading is valuable. If the motivation for a PhD is to find a better job than others, it is likely to be disappointing in the end. Because the undergraduate threshold is low, the enterprise is more willing to, the second undergraduate work experience is richer. Experience is more than a degree in the workplaceImportant。 So to read the doctor, must have a clear ideal. A degree should be combined with a goal. Knowledge is learning to be sufficient, not excessive. I am afraid that many people have learned the knowledge too much and do not know how to use it. Of course in the future Society, university undergraduate education is necessary. Wharton Online: What is the status and impact of education in a person's life? Mr Yu: Education has a great effect on changing a person and even changing a nation. The child was born a piece of white paper, he had to go through two systems of education, one is family education, mainly to educate children's character and personality. I never think that knowledge education is the focus of family education. Family education is the role model of parents, shape the child's personality, let him cheerful, optimistic, positive. Let him be a confident person, a helpful, sincere and thoughtful person, a person who understands love and Thanksgiving. In these respects, the family education undertakes the more important task. And schools assume a more important role in knowledge education. Of course, the school itself should have a good character education system, but the school should integrate character education and knowledge education, which constitutes the real core and power of his future life development. From this point of view, I think that 12 years of elementary school to secondary education is even more important than college education, because this is the most critical period to lay the development of personality. Wharton Online: What qualities do you think you need to be a great university president, and who will be your role model? Mr Cai Yu: Yes, Cai Yuanpei must be my ideal example. His educational policy of inclusive, independent thought and free individuality is a model of future generations. I will strive to create a comprehensive development of students, a better humanistic spirit of inheritance, inclusive of the educational environment. This requires me to have a clear idea of the idea of education, the idea of running a school, what kind of people to cultivate students, how to cultivate, and what kind of professors to employ. At the same time, I must also be a particularly tolerant boss, able to accommodate the personality of professors and students with personality. I want them to be truly thoughtful pillars, hoping that they will be able to unleash creativity, imagination, and academic innovation on campus, allowing them to fully pursue the kind of life they want.