RISE Education Korea (2/2)
Meet Barry O'Callaghan
Introduction Hello, my name is Barry O’Callaghan, the CEO of RISE Education Global. I’ve been working at the education industry for the past 25 years, and first established RISE China in 2011. RISE Education, which started in China, achieved great success. However, due to regulations concerning foreign ownership of educational assets in China, I sold RISE China for 14 times its annual profit which laid a strong foundation for RISE’s global expansion. RISE Korea Over the past few years, I have been working to establish RISE institutions worldwide, and Korea is a particularly important country for us. This is because Korea understands and practices the value of education better than any other country. We know how much Korean parents value education and how they implement it. However, it seems like Korea is still focusing on teaching English in traditional ways like memorizing words and grammar using textbooks. Rise's strength lies in bringing the best elements from the international education market into Korea and combining them with local educational culture, which differentiates the company from other domestic English private institutes. We are trying to present the idea and persuade Korean parents that we will provide them with what they want, such as qualified English Education, but not exactly the way they want it because things are changing rapidly. Vision My vision for Rise is to offer programs that encourage children to think creatively, ask diverse questions, and engage in discussions. This approach moves away from the traditional textbook-based education and exam-oriented methods prevalent in the competitive Korean education market. Accordingly, we have several goals; Firstly, we provide appropriate and effective English learning tailored to students' ages. Secondly, we select the best programs, learning tools, and materials from around the world to help children focus on English learning in the rapidly changing 21st-century learning environment. Thirdly, we strive to enhance children's communication skills and social competence. Fourthly, we do our best to boost children's self-esteem and make them feel happy within RISE academies. The above goals can also be considered as the beliefs of RISE Korea. They will be applied uniformly across all branches, and we promise never to violate or change them. By achieving all these goals, we aim to enhance children's English proficiency, cultivate their social skills, and prepare them energetically for the 21st century. Also, we fundamentally pursue an immersive educational environment. It involves students actively participating in and leading team activities under the guidance of teachers, resulting in successful outcomes and achieving the ultimate objectives. Such methods are also the fastest and most effective foreign language learning programs currently adopted by schools in the United States. Conclusion Moreover, we have incorporated many elements of 'Blended learning,' which combines online and offline learning, in line with the education trends of the 21st century. By exposing students to various English stimuli both online and offline, and conducting English education in various fields such as mathematics, science, social studies, and language, we enable students to speak English fluently, gain confidence, and even enhance leadership skills. The most realistic way to prepare for our children's future is to quickly adapt to radical changes, and the diverse programs offered by RISE are expected to be of substantial assistance. We believe that such RISE programs have produced outstanding students in approximately 10 countries in Asia, totaling around 100,000 individuals.