Online ability-oriented training booming

A 4-year-old boy from Beijing learns to draw a cartoon figure through Meishubao, a Chinese online painting learning platform. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Art education companies are also eyeing the blossoming online sector.

Gan Ling, founder and CEO of Meishubao, an online art tutoring platform, said internet-based education could play a greater role in the art industry.

"Unlike learning the piano or dancing, which requires consistent, boring practice, painting for children doesn't necessarily need that. Every painting class could produce a sense of satisfaction since you produce a piece every time," Gan said.

"More users, including kids, can be attracted to the industry through online technology."

Gan said the current art education market is experiencing a transformation, both in terms of technology and concepts, which will bring significant changes to the industry.

Despite a slowdown in capital raising last year, China's ability-oriented education sector raised 7.44 billion yuan in the first half of 2018.

It topped the sector by accounting for 28.9 percent of total education investment, according to a report by Big Data Research.

"The future of education should teach kids how to face an unknown future," said Terry Zhu, managing partner of BlueRun Ventures China, which invested in both VIP Peilian and Meishubao in early funding rounds.

Zhu said BlueRun invested in the companies because it is optimistic about the future of ability-oriented education in the online education segment.

"Traditional education trains kids with repetitive content, while ability-oriented education offers them another evaluation system to better understand their value," he added.

Commenting on the online business model for ability-oriented education, Zhu said: "Whether the online business can transform traditional education lies in whether companies can leverage technologies and teachers to reach the same effect online as what is achieved offline."

There have been concerns among parents that practicing via online courses will not achieve the same results as in-person practice. Some also worry about the difficulties of finding ideal teachers via the platforms.

"Such factors may affect online-tutoring programs' reputation or word-of-mouth recommendations, which will have a direct influence on the repurchase rate," Zhu said.

"Therefore, challenges remain for these platforms, which should continue to improve both their products and services to gain a loyal user base and to achieve better results."