EYE LEVEL

Excellence Through Self-Directed Learning

If you are a parent, chances are you would be busy sourcing for top learning programmes for your child. Well, look no further than Eye Level to reap the benefits of creative and critical thinking. Franchise Asia speaks to Jean Kim, Country Manager of Daekyo Malaysia to learn about seeing things from a student’s eye level. 

■ What is the inspiration behind Eye Level? Why Eye Level started and what was is its mission?

Eye Level education originated from Daekyo, one of the world leading companies in the educational service market. In addition to 30 years of proving its outstanding reputation and excellence in children’s education to prepare them for a successful future.

Daekyo was ranked number one in Brand Power by Korea Management Association for 14 years consecutively. Daekyo is listed on the Korea Stock Exchange since 2004 and achieved 2.5 million students worldwide.

■ Eye Level is said to be based on an educational principle where students learn at their own pace or self-directed learning. Can you elaborate on this?

Learning abilities differ from one child to another. As such, Eye Level adopts a teaching method in which the child’s personality and learning abilities are identified in order to determine the ideal learning strategies that would yield the best results.

Eye Level practises a systematic teaching system designed to help students with difficulties in a particular subject. The system divides the preschool, primary and secondary school phases into 32 detailed levels. Students will be assessed with a diagnostic test during enrolment to determine his/her ability and difficulties. He/she will then be placed at a level commensurate with his/her ability, regardless of age and school grade. This level would act as a starting point to help develop the student’s ability before advancing to the next level. It is done at his/her own pace of learning.

• The study materials develop thinking ability as students solve various questions in all covered areas.A step-by-step and systematic programme that provides
• proactive feedback and identify the most common mistakes.
• Small-step approach: a self-directed learning programme which
• enables students to develop the ability to study independently.
• Students will improve their problem-solving skills, enhance their spatial sense with real objects, and explore new experience in learning through the learning tools provided.

■  How will students benefit from this type of learning compared to the more conventional ones?

Eye level adopts an interactive teaching methodology that disseminates proactive feedback and encourages the development of critical and analytical thinking skills. The systematic study materials used prompts students to utilise these skills in all areas of study to solve problems independently.

According to the State University of New York’s research, it is proven that Eye Level improves students’ mathematical skills, logical reasoning ability and also their interest in math.

■  Eye Level is a leading provider of supplemental education in the areas of Math and English. Can you elaborate why Eye Level focuses on these two subjects, and how are these subjects taught? Can youbriefly describe Eye Level Math Olympiad, Eye Level Play Math and Eye Level Chinese Junior?

There may be only one solution for a mathematics question but there are several ways a student can arrive at the answer. We assist the students in identifying the best and fastest working or one that suits his level of ability. As such, mathematics becomes an important subject for a student to develop his creativity and problem-solving analytical skill as he explores the different ways of solving a question.

Eye Level English aims to help students master English systematically through the four basic, yet most important language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. These skills develop the areas of literacy and literature in a balanced way. As Eye Level is not a conventional tuition centre that groups students according to their school grade, students may progress to study beyond their school grade at Eye Level through its customised and individual learning programme.

Eye Level Math

The Eye Level Math programme consists of 32 levels. Each level is divided into two areas: basic thinking math and
critical thinking math.

• (Level 1-23): Lower Level Math
• (Level 24-32): Higher Level Math

Basic Thinking Math encompasses the thinking skills acquired from the mathematics syllabus taught in school. Students will solve arithmetic, algebra, geometry and calculus questions independently with minimum guidance from instructor. Critical Thinking Math focuses on various mathematical theoretical methods and the abilities of abstract thinking, generalisation, logical reasoning, problem solving and geometrical reasoning. These are profound mathematical abilities which are not easily acquired from the mathematics curriculum in school.

Mathematics is also a core subject for the mastering of science subjects such as physics and chemistry. With a strong foundation of basic and critical math, we hope that we have prepared our students well for future challenges as they embark on their pursuit of knowledge.

Eye Level English

Eye Level English undertakes the explanatory and thematic approach in teaching the English language. The concepts of the language are imparted through illustrations and various examples that provide a good and solid understanding to the students before they progress to the application of the concepts. They will then engage their thinking abilities as they tackle the questions on the concepts that they have learnt.

Eye Level Play Math

Eye Level Play Math adopts a specialised math syllabus that develops mathematical creativity through play and hands-on learning. The objective of this programme is to build logical and mathematical thinking abilities by allowing the child to experience mathematical concepts before they learn numbers, build the basis for learning numbers by connecting counting objects to counting numbers and to teach the concept of amount by learning how to count from one to ten. Eye Level Play Math also incorporates ten playing applications that can enhance a young student’s fine motor skills.

Eye Level Chinese Junior

The Eye Level Chinese Junior programme focuses on honing the conversational skills like a native speaker and the writing of Chinese characters. Students will start by learning the intonations and, subsequently, form basic conversational sentences, before progressing to grammar and writing.

Eye Level Math Olympiad

The Eye Level Math Olympiad is an annual math contest initiated in 2004. Eye Level members around the world can participate in the Olympiad held between October to November annually. The Eye Level Math Olympiad is a test designed to assess the students’ mathematical abilities in a variety of areas such as problem solving, reasoning, communication and critical thinking at a global level. The Olympiad is challenging due to the ever increasing number of participants, in line with the growing number of members worldwide. We are confident that our tests are of global standards, given that our supervisors are able to accurately test and gauge the mathematical ability of students from all over the world.

■  There are so many established as well as new concepts being introduced in children’s education system. How will Eye Level stay above the competition?

Eye Level will keep progressing with the changing market and demands. Eye Level has gone from having just one subject when we started to offering four subjects at present. That being said, to stay above the competition, Eye Level will continue to research and only after the highest quality programmes that are relevant to the changing education landscape globally will be introduced more to our young customers. Hence, we already have secured plans for improvements and investments.

Having more than a hundred operating centres all over Malaysia calls for consistency and quality checks to ensure that we deliver results and satisfaction to our customers. Therefore, every Eye Level instructor would be required to attend ongoing training provided by our in-house trainers to ensure that our students receive quality education. In addition, all centres are continuously inspected to ensure they are operating by the required criteria and rules.

Furthermore, the annual Eye Level Math Olympiad exposes our students to global competition at a young age, giving them valuable experience and exposure. Eye Level offers excellent programmes that truly build and benefit our future generations.

FRANCHISING

■ Why should someone consider an Eye Level franchise?

Daekyo Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (Eye Level) is a subsidiary of Daekyo Co. Ltd., a successful company listed on the Korea Stock Exchange (KRK). Eye Level has great market potential being an international pioneer in introducing the Critical Thinking Math programme and being the world’s second largest education institution with 2.5 million students. Eye Level also boasts of an in-house Research & Development (R&D) Division dedicated to the continuous improvement of the institution’s teaching methodologies.

■ Must one have a background in education to start an Eye Level franchise?

A background in education is not a prerequisite, although Eye Level Malaysia does require every prospective franchisee to pass our Math and English screening tests. Successful and selected applicants will then undergo full training conducted by the Training Department. The training encompasses:

• Product knowledge
• Curriculum training
• System training

■ What is the number of students that one can enroll in Eye Level center?

The number of students enrolled depends on the capacity of the learning center and effectiveness of the center management.

■ How much fund and space do I need to open an Eye Level centre?

The initial investment is around RM90,000 to RM100,000, inclusive of renovation and furnishing for the basic set-up and Eye Level franchise fees. The minimum space for an Eye Level centre will be 1,200 square feet.

■ How long will it take to run my own Eye Level franchise?

Based on our past experience, the setting up of a new Eye Level center will take in between 2 or 3 months. The preparations does not include the Ministry of Education (MOE) license application.

■ How soon can I see profit after opening my Eye Level franchise outlet?

From our past experience, most of our franchisee able to reach Break Even point (BEP) by the sixth month of operation. It also depends on the aggressiveness of the franchisee.

■ How soon can I see profit after opening my Eye Level franchise outlet?

Based on our existing franchisees’ records, our Franchisee Break Even Point (BEP) is observed in the sixth month of operation. The profitability also depends on the aggressiveness of the franchisee; there are a number of centres who have achieved break-even much earlier.