The Birth of The Maple Leaf World School Program

National Strategic Background

In 2012, the 18th CPC National Congress explicitly advocated the concept of “a community with a shared future for mankind”.

In 2013, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed the “Belt and Road” initiative, which is committed to achieving policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and people-to-people connectivity among countries along the “Belt and Road”.

In 2020, the Ministry of Education and eight other departments formally proposed the "Opinions on Accelerating and Expanding the Opening-up of Education in the New Era". In this opinion, it is clearly proposed to create an upgraded version of the "Belt and Road" education action, and for the first time at the central level it is determined to establish a Chinese-style international curriculum development and promotion system.

In his report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2022, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly proposed: Accelerate the construction of important world talent centers and innovation bases, and strive to form comparative advantages in international talent competition.

In 2023, Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng published an article in the China Education Daily, pointing out that we must "root ourselves in the genes and spiritual lifeline of China's excellent traditional culture and further strengthen our confidence in education."

In 2024, the National Education Conference was held in Beijing. The conference emphasized: building a high-quality education system with Chinese characteristics, world-class standards, and matching Chinese-style modernization; to build an education power, we must correctly handle the important relationship between taking root in China and drawing on international experience, and we must firmly promote high-level education opening up to the outside world, coordinate high-level "bringing in" and "going out", find the right entry point to participate in global education governance, and continuously enhance the international influence, competitiveness and voice of my country's education.



Maple Leaf Educational Systems has put the national strategy into concrete action and created the world's first international curriculum with Chinese characteristics, Maple Leaf World School Program.

Course Development Background

Maple Leaf International School was established in 1995. It is the first international school in China approved by the provincial government and education authorities and registered with the Ministry of Education. In 1995, Maple Leaf International School introduced the high school curriculum of British Columbia, Canada and integrated it with the high school curriculum of China, opening up the innovative practice of bilingual and dual-diploma education. Maple Leaf Education spent five years summarizing the high school education model of "three combinations, two certifications, and one connection". Maple Leaf Education's fifteen years of educational practice have formed two unique systems: curriculum system, Maple Leaf primary and secondary school English teaching and Maple Leaf high school "bilingual and dual-diploma" curriculum system; education system, Maple Leaf primary school happy education, junior high school three good habits education and high school ideal education system.

Based on more than 20 years of introduction, integration and continuous innovation, Maple Leaf Education is no longer satisfied with simply using foreign courses and accepting foreign certification. Maple Leaf Educational Systems has decided to develop a Maple Leaf World School Program and standards with China's independent intellectual property rights, breaking the monopoly of European and American courses such as IB and A-Level in the Chinese market and filling the gap in China's international courses.

                                    Developing Maple Leaf World School Program

In the summer of 2014, based on the vision of building "China’s Maple Leaf and the World’s Maple Leaf" and twenty years of innovation and practical experience, the development of a local international curriculum system in China was put on the agenda, and the Maple Leaf Educational Systems Board of Directors made the decision to develop the Maple Leaf global curriculum.

In September 2014, Dr. Sherman Jen, founder and chairman of Maple Leaf Educational Systems, commissioned curriculum expert and then Canadian school director James Beeke to lead the organization of dozens of Chinese and foreign education experts and hundreds of Chinese and foreign front-line teachers to officially launch the development of Maple Leaf's global curriculum.

In September 2016, the Maple Leaf Global Curriculum was renamed Maple Leaf World School Program. The curriculum was developed, implemented, modified and improved in practice.

As of August 2019, Maple Leaf World School Program has been completed after five years of development and practice . Maple Leaf World School Program includes four pillar courses: English academic courses, Chinese academic courses, English language courses (ESL), and Chinese language courses (CSL). It is the world's first internationalized curriculum that contains Chinese cultural elements and concepts and has Chinese intellectual property rights.

On November 27, 2019, Maple Leaf Educational Systems announced that starting from September 2020, Maple Leaf International High Schools in mainland China will implement Maple Leaf World School Program, starting from the first year of high school, and the Canadian BC curriculum and certification will phase out in three years.

              Transitioning from BC Program to Maple Leaf World School Program

Since April 2019, Mr. Peter Owen, a director of the Systems, has been representing the Systems to the BC Ministry of Education in Canada to explain the background and reasons for the transformation of Maple Leaf's curriculum, as well as the transition support it needs. The BC Ministry of Education has supported Maple Leaf's application, taking into account factors such as its good record of nearly 20 years of certification, cooperation, and contribution to the development of overseas education in BC. The BC Ministry of Education said that it agreed to Maple Leaf International School's separation from the BC curriculum certification, and promised to continue to provide support during the three-year transition period to ensure that Maple Leaf students registered with the BC Ministry of Education can obtain a BC high school diploma after completing their studies.

In the process of de-accrediting from the British Columbia Province, Maple Leaf Educational Systems thanks the British Columbia Ministry of Education for its twenty years of support, and is particularly respectful of its foreign executives, Mr. James Beeke and Mr. Peter Owen, for their loyal service and outstanding contributions over the years.

Dr. Sherman Jen said: "When I founded Maple Leaf International School, Mr. Beeke was the then Chief Inspector of the BC Ministry of Education, and Mr. Owen was the then Legislative Minister of the BC Ministry of Education. They supported me in introducing the BC curriculum to China and made administrative legislation for Maple Leaf School to become the first overseas school in BC." Dr. Sherman Jen said with emotion, "Now, it is also Mr. Beeke and Mr. Owen who support Maple Leaf Education in developing the World School curriculum and breaking away from the BC curriculum certification. They have made indelible contributions to Maple Leaf Education. As the founder of Maple Leaf Education, I am deeply moved every time I think of their professionalism and overall awareness shown in the 'disruptive change'!"