Chinese smartphone brands Oppo and Vivo have joined with education brand Okii to build a K-12 school in the southern Chinese city of Dongguan, where the brands have manufacturing facilities, according to an official announcement by ITHome on June 1. All three brands are owned by the parent company, BBK Electronics.
Why it matters: Okii is an edtech brand in China that makes study devices for kids. Leveraging BBK’s resources, the project shows the long-term ambition of the brands.
Details: The school, called “Dongguan BBK Experimental School” (our translation), is approved by the Dongguan Education Bureau in Guangdong province. Oppo, Vivo, and Okii will begin enrolling students next September.
- The school focuses on K-12 education, covering kindergarten, primary, and middle school ages. It aims to accommodate 15 kindergarten classes, 60 primary school classes, and 30 junior high school classes.
- In preparation for its first academic year, the school plans to hire 99 teachers in two batches. The first batch will comprise around 30 jobs, with applications being taken from June this year. Teachers will be offered a yearly salary ranging from RMB 160,000 to RMB 600,000 ($24,037 to $90,139). The second batch of teaching posts will open to the public in September.
- The announcement also goes into detail about working benefits for teachers, including offering 56-square-meter apartments for teachers, as well as social insurance, holiday benefits, and year-end performance bonuses. The salary offering and the additional perks are higher than average school offerings.
- The original announcement has since been removed from BBK Education’s official WeChat account. TechNode was unable to reach BBK Education on Monday.
Context: Oppo and Vivo are following the footsteps of other large consumer electronics firms in building a community in their base cities. Samsung and Haier have done similar social projects.
- In South Korea, smartphone giant Samsung has a deep presence in the country’s social life, building hospitals, pharmaceuticals, apartment buildings, and other social projects. Last December, Haier, a Chinese appliance giant, launched a school in the eastern city of Qingdao with the aim of opening for students in 2022, Chinese media outlet Jiemian reported.
- Founded in 1998, BBK Electronics is one of China’s largest consumer electronics manufacturers. According to its official website, its business covers education, mobile tech, and home appliances.