China Online Education Group Appoints Michael Farley as Head of North American Operations

BEIJING, Oct. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- China Online Education Group ("51Talk", or the "Company") (NYSE: COE), a leading online education platform in China with core expertise in English education, today announced that Mr. Michael Farley has joined the Company as Head of North American Operations, effective immediately.

Mr. Farley will be in charge of the Company's teacher sourcing, recruiting and training, as well as branding and business development in North America. Mr. Farley has over 30 years' experience in educational management and reform in the United States, during which time he developed innovative educational programs and established new schools in Washington, D.C., Michigan, Virginia, Illinois, and Utah. Through his work, Mr. Farley has engaged with over 500 schools in more than 20 states and several different countries. Student-centered learning and the use of technology in the classroom to enable effective personalized learning have been core areas of his concentration. Mr. Farley has also developed a keen understanding of Chinese culture and educational practices, while helping establish international schools in China.

Before joining 51Talk, he served as the Founder and Superintendent of American International School of Utah ("AISU"), where he led the formation of a strategic partnership between 51Talk and AISU in October 2016. Mr. Farley received his master's degree in Educational Administration from Arizona State University in 2008 and his bachelor's degree in Political Science from Brigham Young University in 1989.

Mr. Jack Jiajia Huang, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, stated, "We are excited to add Michael to our management team as the Head of North American Operations.  We believe that his extensive experience in education management in the United States, coupled with his entrepreneurial orientation, will greatly strengthen our North American operations. Additionally, his cross-cultural education experience in both United States and China will be a great asset for our future development in our North American teacher resource expansion, as well as potential business cooperation opportunities in North America."

Mr. Michael Farley, added, "I am excited to take on the role of Head of North American Operations for 51Talk. I look forward to collaborating with the 51Talk leadership team and generating synergistic results to enhance 51Talk's core business as well as enable the Company to strengthen its leadership position in the dynamic online education marketplace."

About China Online Education Group

China Online Education Group (NYSE: COE) is a leading online education platform in China, with core expertise in English education. The Company's mission is to make quality education accessible and affordable. The Company's online and mobile education platforms enable students across China to take live one-on-one interactive English lessons with overseas foreign teachers, on demand. The Company connects its students with a large pool of highly qualified foreign teachers that it assembled using a shared economy approach, and employs student and teacher feedback and data analytics to deliver a personalized learning experience to its students.

For more information, please visit http://ir.51talk.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will", "expects", "anticipates", "aims", "future", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", "likely to" and similar statements. Among other things, 51Talk's business outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as 51Talk's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. 51Talk may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about 51Talk's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: 51Talk's goals and strategies; 51Talk's expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its brand and platform; 51Talk's ability to retain and increase its student enrollment; 51Talk's ability to offer new courses; 51Talk's ability to engage, train and retain new teachers; 51Talk's future business development, results of operations and financial condition; 51Talk's ability to maintain and improve infrastructure necessary to operate its education platform; competition in the online education industry in China; the expected growth of, and trends in, the markets for 51Talk's course offerings in China; relevant government policies and regulations relating to 51Talk's corporate structure, business and industry;  general economic and business condition in China, the Philippines and elsewhere and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in 51Talk's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and 51Talk does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Contacts:

China Online Education Group
Investor Relations
+86 (10) 5692-8909
ir@51talk.com

The Piacente Group, Inc.
Brandi Piacente
+86 (10) 6535-0148
+1-212-481-2050
51talk@tpg-ir.com

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SOURCE China Online Education Group