Among her cases Yang Jie has met some children who refuse to talk. Pengpeng, for example, is a two-and-half-year-old who seldom speaks, although he can say a few simple words like mom and dad. In addition, he is scared to go out and meet strangers, so his parents rarely take him outside the house.

    Yang found that Pengpeng was in the care of his grandma for a year after he was born, but his grandma had difficulty moving about so she seldom took the boy out. Pengpeng’s parents are always busy with work, leaving early and returning late. In view of this situation, Yang approached Pengpeng using her own methods, and after staying with her for 15 days, the boy was able to say many sentences.

    If parents are working, they often have little time to spend on their children’s education. “Parents often ignore children when they are two or three years old. And the kids are easily spoiled when cared for by their grandparents,” states Yang.

    Yang Jie points out that children at different stages will have different problems, but all of these problems are related to the education methods adopted by their parents. “Although many parents are well-educated, they have no idea when it comes to family education.”

    Not all parents are willing to accept the advice of paid consultants. Ye Jing is the mother of an eight-month-old baby, and currently works at a government office in Beijing. When she has questions on baby feeding, she logs on to Beijing Healthy Birth and Sound Care (http://www.bjysyy.cn) for free consultations. She tells China Today that even if she meets some problems during her child’s education, it is unlikely she will pay for consultations. “I prefer talking with my friends or parents whose children are at the same age as mine. Or I read cases posted online to see how other mothers deal with similar problems. I won’t pay for consultations unless my child has some really serious problem and I really don’t know what to do.” He Yongjun agrees that parents should only seek paid help after they find there is nowhere else to turn.

Standardizing Training

    “Family education consulting is a new profession, so the relevant certifications are not as standardized as those for psychological consultants,” says Yang Jie.

    In many big cities such as Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai, there are lots of training courses for family education consultants, with charges ranging from RMB 2,000 to 5,000. Some certificates are granted by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, while others are from associations inside the trade.

In August 2005, a teacher at a family education instruction station in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, works with migrant workers.                                                    Photos by China Foto Press

    “In China experts in this field are in great demand,” says Yang Jie. At present, the number of professional family education consultants is less than 20,000, and not all of these are full time. That’s about one consultant for every 70,000 parents. According to estimates inside the trade, the number could reach 500,000.

    During the four years after He Yongjun started his consultancy, he has taught many students. He believes this profession requires much practice. Although consultants need many skills from the very beginning, they can only truly master techniques and methods through practice. Eventually they should be able to deal with any problem easily.

    For the last two years, He has been able to earn RMB 7,000 per month through family education consulting, which far exceeds his regular salary. “Most of my customers are introduced by those who consulted with me before,” explains He. This has created a pool of regular clients, and he plans to start a training course next spring.