By Neil Jerome Morales
MANILA, March 23 (Reuters) - Filipino teacher Raven Kate De
Leon is in demand, spending up to 10 hours a day at her home
computer surrounded by mini cars and stuffed toys that she uses
as props to inject fun into her English classes for students far
away in China.
Since the coronavirus took a hold in China at the start of
this year and forced schools and offices to shut down, thousands
of Filipino teachers are cashing on overtime as grade schoolers
and professionals in China, Japan and beyond turn lockdowns into
opportunities to better their English.
One of only a few countries in Asia that can combine
affordable e-learning with an ample supply of teachers and
strong English proficiency, the Philippines is uniquely placed
to absorb demand in Asia for Internet language classes.
Online platforms like 51Talk of China Online Education Group
COE.N and RareJob Philippines, and a host of smaller local
Philippine outfits, have seen demand and usage soar since
February, bucking the devastating effect on the world's
economies from coronavirus, which has infected more than 337,500
people and killed more than 14,500.
"I usually have 20 classes every day, so I could meet the
demand of the great number of students nowadays," said De Leon,
22, who works for 51Talk.
"I take that opportunity to give them a fun and fruitful
distraction because I know they're stressed, worried."
De Leon is currently now working from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.,
without a day off.
51Talk charges around 45 yuan ($6.36) per 25-minute session,
with teachers earning around 130 pesos ($2.53) per hour.
China shut down its schools in February to contain
infections. More than two dozen countries followed suit, sending
more than 290 million children and youths out of school, data
from UNESCO, the United Nation's cultural agency, showed.
"More and more, the safe way to continue learning is to go
online," said Jennifer Que, country head of 51Talk , which has
20,000 partner-teachers in the Philippines.
Many online teachers in the Philippines typically work from
home, which has insulated them from the home quarantine measures
that have devastated businesses and restricted tens of millions
in the Philippines, which has nearly 400 confirmed cases.
JUMP IN VALUE
Shares in the $419-million China Online Education has surged
154% year-to-date, compared to the NYSE composite index's .NYA
34% slump in the same period.
Other e-learning firms like TAL Education Group TAL.N , New
Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc EDU.N and GSX
Techedu Inc GSX.N have seen their shares rally up to 24%, 17%
and 112%, respectively, notably at the height of the school
closures in mid-February.
RareJob, which has around 6,000 Filipino tutors and
specialises in the Japan market, saw its users nearly double to
800,000 since February, CEO Gaku Nakamura told Reuters. Japan
shut down its schools last month to halt the coronavirus spread.
"In these kinds of situation, parents do not want their kids
to go out," Nakamura said, adding that RareJob's monthly fee of
$60 for Japanese students and $100 for business-level English is
cheaper by up to 40 times versus learning centres in Japan.
Japanese teenagers form the bulk of Kristine Concepcion's 26
daily students.
"I'm happy to be of service in this situation and I admire
them for still choosing to learn," said Concepcion, a RareJob
tutor of five years, who uses candy, Astroboy and stuffed toys
to keep her child students engaged.
But not everywhere can cope, including the southern city of
Davao, which has a backoffice industry comprising 50,000 mostly
call centre agents, but no more than 300 home-based online
tutors.
"We could not meet the demand," said Samuel Matunog,
president of the industry group, ICT Davao. "Every day, we are
asked if we still have a supply of teachers."
Regardless of whether school and work shutdowns will
continue for much longer, online learning firms are hoping to
leave a lasting impression on an underserved market.
51Talk wants to engage 100,000 Filipino tutors by 2025 or
earlier and hopes its teachers will get good ratings and
referrals after the surge in customers to ensure demand after
coronavirus containment measures are over.
"Of course we don't want this outbreak to last a long time
but this is the best moment. If teachers do their best, even
after things normalise, students will look for them," said
country head Que.