School in China
Sending our children to school while living in China and how they would adapt was certainly the biggest question we had about relocating The Young Travelling MacNichols. Objectively, realizing what is portrayed in the West about China is false, but until you do it, you never truly know.
In Part One of the School in China series, readers will get an overview of what goes on here when it comes to schooling children.
Kindergarten
Since Grade 1 does not begin until a child is aged 8, parents have the option of enrolling your child in Kindergarten.
Kindergarten Class – Chun Zhou Kindergarten –
Kindergarten is a paid service and will care for children from 3 to 7 years of age. As you might not expect, these schools do not burden the child with a great deal of work. Games, crafts are the order of the day, only some class room time occurs for the older children. There, students will begin writing the pinyin letters, learn the 4 tones of the Chinese language and learn some math. Depending on the school, other activities such as piano and computer time are available.
In the case of our school, some very bright Foreigners from Canada (Us) negotiated to have English Classes taught right at the Kindergarten. Parents pay extra for this service and their children can experience Ms. Robyne’s English class 5 days a week.
While attending Kindergarten, the children receive lots and lots of food, all prepared, fresh, in house by a kitchen staff. The only real adjustment for a couple of Western parents and kids, is the afternoon nap time. Here, children are put to bed for 2.5 hours after lunch time. In our case, we use this time for Chinese Tutors to come to our home.
The cost for these Kindergartens run the spectrum, however they have been capped. This policy arose due to parents complaining about the potential of increase Kindergarten Costs. So for the time being, new schools must cap their tuition fees, while existing ones have their [potentially] higher fees locked in.
Education department officials have indicated this most likely will not last.
The Chun Zhou (Chir – oon -jew) Kindergarten charges 3000 RMB ($600 CAD) per half plus a monthly meal fee of around 100 RMB ($20 CAD). Chun Zhou is the 2nd most expensive kindergarten in the area. Price does not always reflect quality.
Grade 1 and beyond.
Only “seeing is believing”, can allow a person to understand how many children attend the various schools in Zhaoyuan. A business partner is always quick to say how efficient the Chinese are at processing large amounts of people. The school system is certainly proof of that.
Schools have to contend with HUGE amounts of Children. A school housing Grade 1 to Grade 5 (Elementary) will easily carry a population of 2000 (plus) kids. As they fill the school yard for their daily exercises, the sea of children is a sight to behold. Once moving inside the environment is even scarier or astonishing, depending on your bent. A typical class room will hold up to 65 kids! No EAs (Educational Assistance), just one teacher per class. “I dare you to act up”.
As your child moves through various grades, the workload increases. Once you hit Grade 6, forget about it, life as a student changes. Count on hours and hours of homework and the school days progressively getting longer, until your schedule will consist of 7:30am to 7:00pm plus homework in High School.
These types of conditions have arisen from two events. The first being the deep hole China was put in by notable folks such as Chian Kai-shek and Mao Tse-Tung/Mao Zedong, just to name a few, and their large population. The country has had to set themselves on a corrected path to educating their population.
The current model does somethings well and some things not so well……and we will discuss that in another post. So be sure to Follow Us Glass of Scotch and The Young Travelling MacNichols
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