Parents and kids check out schools' chops before taking the leap
Kindergarten students try sports facilities at the Chuncheng campus of the Minhang Experimental Primary School on Saturday.
More public schools opened their doors to kindergarten children and their parents at the weekend to help them get a better understanding of the schools before making a decision where to apply.
On Saturday, about 500 children and their parents visited the Chuncheng campus of the Minhang Experimental Primary School, where usually about 360 students are admitted each year.
According to Zhang Jun, headmaster of the campus, applicants are admitted based on the time of registration of their hukou, or permanent residence certificate. Those registered in the intake area later would be distributed to another campus of the school.
Besides touring around the campus and watching videos about basic information, the kids also tried some sample classes, including Chinese, math, English, painting, dancing, drama, calligraphy, sports and natural science.
“The school has a good reputation, but I was still surprised to see how wonderful it is,” said a mother surnamed Chen. “The teachers are very professional and nice and there are a lot of artistic classes here. Both my daughter and I love it.”
The “Campus Open Day” has become a must in local public schools’ admission processes since 2016, as part of the government’s efforts to ease parents’ obsession with popular private schools.
Public primary and junior high schools admit students according to geographic intake areas, but previously they did not organize campus visits before admission, meaning parents and children often lacked an understanding of them before entry.
But private schools were allowed to pick and choose through interviews on designated dates, and they usually had various promotional activities.
Meanwhile, private schools made their selections before public school registration, so many parents had their children try their luck at private schools first since even if they failed, it would not affect their registration at public schools.
But starting last year, the authority changed the rules and asked public and private primary schools to carry out their admission processes at the same time. Therefore, parents have to make the choice between public and private schools at the very beginning.
Zhang said the policy has made an impact.
“Previously, 20 to 30 students in the intake area turned to private schools each year, but last year, it dropped to about 10,” she said.
Last year, local private schools received 19,900 applications, 17,500 less than the previous year.
Private schools will organize their “Campus Open Days” next month.
Students try paper-cutting.
Two girls learn football.
Students learn pinyin, or Chinese phonetics.
Students learn pinyin, or Chinese phonetics.
Students at a natural science class.
Parents and kids look at a classroom.
Student volunteers guide parents and younger children to visit the school.
