Not just an academic issue

The research has shown that 83 percent of surveyed parents have acquired parenting knowledge online, particularly from online communities, applications and WeChat accounts.

Despite the booming market opportunities, the repetitive formats of early education institutions and high rents in shopping malls have resulted in the closure of many English-language schools for children.

Liu Dongmin, an analyst with iResearch, said that the online pre-school education market remains relatively small as children aged under 6 are not encouraged by their parents to use electronic devices.

The lack of people-to-people interaction in digital applications is also a major obstacle in terms of children accessing online education programs.

According to iResearch, parents use online education products for an average of five minutes per day.

Liu said the parents－the major users of online education products－are very reluctant to pay for such products, despite the fact that applications such as those teaching foreign languages or ancient poetry actually charge quite small fees.

But Liu said there are opportunities for further growth in this section of the market as younger parents have more access to the Internet and online education products.