Learning by playing and making mistakes might seem controversial to many in China, yet an event promoting such ideas attracted 1,000 children and their parents in Tianjin in late June.

"To improve Chinese children's creativeness, we have imported an advanced education model," Sun Tianqun, head of the Need International Institute (NII), told China National Radio.

Using an educational philosophy developed at renowned universities worldwide, including Ivy League schools, the approach not only focuses on schoolwork, but also works to cultivate positive values and engender innovation, perception, communication, willpower, decision making and leadership, according to the NII website.

The model originated with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in the United States.

In cooperation with the IEEE, the program is designed to help Chinese students enter leading US universities and qualify for an internship program for students aged between 16 and 20 at NASA.

Sun said his team has registered a trademark for the program and started a website to pass along information.

He said all the literature released makes it clear that the project is an import from the IEEE and respects its intellectual property rights.

The model was tried out at a pilot secondary school in Ma'anshan, Anhui province last October.

The Tianjin event followed a promotion in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province a few days before.

Sun said NII events will be held across the country.

(Source:China Daily)