For families considering an expatriate assignment in China, the availability of suitable education used to be a major concern. Now international schools are proliferating and even local schooling has become an option.

 

Parents want to be reassured that their children will receive a strong education that will not only introduce students to their host country, but will keep them on grade level for easy re-integration to their home country or subsequent host country when the assignment is over.

Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou offer a wide choice of international schools and, following foreign investment trends. small, new international schools are opening in more and more Chinese cities.

Regulations have also recently changed, so that not only are expat kids afforded the choice of many international schools in big cities, but they also have the option to consider local schooling as well.

In addition to 'embassy schools' run expressly for the purpose of educating their nationals (the Japanese and German schools in Beijing, for example) there are a number of other high quality international schools in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Each school has its pros and cons, so it is important for each family to sit down prior to a school visit and ask themselves what their priorities are for their children's education while on assignment.

Exposure to host country, language opportunities, school sports, teacher-to-student ratio, availability of learning for disabled students, English as a second language (ESL) classes and academic curriculum all vary from family to family in terms of importance.

Few parents elect to send their children to local schools, but at least the option is now available. Those who select this option usually have stronger cultural and ethnic ties to China, but many simply want immersion in the host country. And at upwards of USD 25,000 per year for international school tuition, those expats who don't receive tuition benefits turn to local schools as an affordable option.

In addition to the 'name brand' Chinese schools in Beijing, like Fang Cao Di (elementary) and No. 55 Middle School (actually a middle and high school) which have separate foreign sections as part of their schools, many previously 'closed' local schools are now opening their doors legally to foreigners who come-a-knocking.

Since Chinese and western standards of education differ quite drastically, make sure you prioritise your needs first. Chinese parents have no qualms about enrolling their kids in a school with 48 or more students per class as long as the name of the school is good, whereas most western parents baulk at class sizes over 25.

Schooling in Guangzhou 

"Living in China is surprising. Every day you learn something new and Guangzhou keeps amazing me," says Ingrid de Bloeme. "The same goes for our two children, Tim and Bob, who accompanied us on our China adventure. When we came to Canton/Guangzhou in 2001 the boys were 6 and 7 years old, they didn't speak more than 10 words of English and had never lived outside the Netherlands before.

"There are several options in Guangzhou for primary/secondary schools. We chose Utahloy International School because it is located in the north of Guangzhou where the air gets a little more transparent, the grounds have a lot of green to run about, and the facilities seem child-friendly.

"The curriculum is Australian/English, and the teachers come from all over the world but mainly from Canada, Australia and England. One very positive feature of International Schools is that generally the teachers really like what they are doing, not least because they are enjoying the international experience and are not attached to one city or one school where they will remain teaching until their retirement.

"Furthermore the classes in international schools are small (16-20 children per class), funding is quite substantial (offering fieldtrips, high standard equipment and also well qualified teachers). The variety of nationalities your child will meet is vast. This means that every child is treated as unique, international understanding is promoted, and children learn to be supportive of each other.

"Our children settled in beautifully into their new surroundings and were speaking English within two months - now they are even correcting my husband's and my own English! The school provides ESL training if necessary.

"The school bus picks them up in the morning from our compound and delivers them back at 17:00, leaving me plenty of time for my contribution to Guangzhou's small enterprise economics. The school offers after-school activities that vary from ballet to outdoor skills and from field hockey to computer fun.

"The bottom line is that school takes up a lot of time and children have about 14 years of education to struggle through. It is very important, therefore, that they enjoy going to school, for that is the only way to keep them interested in soaking up the information.

"In Guangzhou in addition to the Utahloy International School, there is the American International School. Present are also a French primary school, a Japanese school, a German school and several preschools/playgroups."

Schooling in Greater China

China's continuing economic boom is bringing increasing numbers of expats to China, and into lesser-known Chinese cities. While information is quite readily available about the range of schooling options in the 'older' foreign investment locations, the economic hubs of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, expats moving to the 'newer' foreign investment locations with children need to know what the options are there for schooling.

However, more and more and more international schools with accredited curricula are opening up right across China and schools are now located in places such as Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Nanjing, Qingdao, Shekou, Shenyang, Suzhou, Tianjin, Wuhan, Zhejiang, and Zhuhai.

Useful links

China education exchange.org: (http://www.expatsinchina.com/life/education/intllist.html).

January 2005

Barbara Chen is the Beijing counsellor and Ingrid de Bloeme is the Guangzhou counsellor for Asia Pacific Access (www.apachina.com).

Subject: Expatriate support