BEIJING, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (the "Company" or "New Oriental") (NYSE: EDU), the largest provider of private educational services in China, today announced it has entered an exclusive agreement with Kinderdance, the US-based provider of dance, motor development, gymnastics and fitness programs for young children, to offer Kinderdance content in New Oriental's early childhood learning centers in China.
Founded in 1979, Kinderdance is a unique program that incorporates educational concepts in a developmentally-designed curriculum that places special emphasis on building confidence and self-esteem through movement, music and dance. In class, children engage with both their parents and the instructor in a series of movements to the accompaniment of music aimed at teaching children the importance of expression and interaction.
Under the exclusive agreement, New Oriental will use specialized Kinderdance content, designed for children aged two to six years old, in its early-childhood KinderPlace training centers in Beijing and its Kindergarten of Stars kindergartens in Beijing and Nanjing. The Company plans to expand its network of KinderPlace centers throughout China, and expects to be in over 10 major cities by 2014.
"We are very excited to announce our plan to offer Kinderdance content at New Oriental's early childhood centers," said Michael Yu, New Oriental's chairman and chief executive officer. "With its long history, world-wide reputation and great track record of instilling children with confidence in a fun, supportive educational environment, Kinderdance is the perfect partner for us as we expand our training offerings to pre-school aged children. New Oriental already serves as the lifelong educational partner for Chinese students, and this partnership builds on our ability to reach students at an even younger age."
Mr. Yu noted the size of the pre-school market presents a strong opportunity, with 100 million Chinese children ages 0-6 years old and many Chinese families increasingly placing emphasis on education at an even younger age.
Carol Kay Harsell, the founder of Kinderdance International commented, "At Kinderdance, we believe teaching a preschool child how to learn through developmental-designed and fun ways of expression and interaction has a lasting positive influence throughout his or her school years. By partnering with New Oriental, China's leading private educational provider, we look forward to bringing our innovative content to the huge population of children in China."
About New Oriental
New Oriental is the largest provider of private educational services in the People's Republic of China (the "PRC") based on the number of program offerings, total student enrollments and geographic presence. New Oriental offers a wide range of educational programs, services and products consisting primarily of English and other foreign language training, test preparation courses for major admissions and assessment tests in the United States, the PRC and Commonwealth countries, primary and secondary school education, development and distribution of educational content, software and other technology, and online education. New Oriental's ADSs, each of which represents four common shares, currently trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "EDU."
About Kinderdance
Kinderdance(R) places emphasis on building self-confidence and self-esteem in children through learning to share, lead, interact and respond to others' needs as well as their own. The programs incorporate the arts, movement, education, music, fitness and the fun of learning into a young child's life.
For more information, please contact:
New Oriental:
In China:
Ms. Sisi Zhao
New Oriental Education and Technology Group Inc.
Tel: +86-10-6260-5566 x8203
Email: zhaosisi@staff.neworiental.org
Ms. Courtney Shike
Brunswick Group LLC
Tel: +86-10-6566-2256
Email: cshike@brunswickgroup.com
In the U.S.:
Ms. Kate Tellier
Brunswick Group LLC
Tel: +1-212-333-3810
Email: ktellier@brunswickgroup.com
KinderDance:
Mr. Richard Maltese
Kinderdance(R)
Tel: +1-800-554-2334
Web: http://www.kinderdance.com
