Over the past week multiple international schools in Beijing have delayed their previously announced starting date for the new academic year, in part due to the recent batch of COVID-19 cases in the city, as well as a newly-enforced government mandate.

The Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB) sent out a formal notice on their WeChat platform to parents and guardians on Jul 30, revising their original start date from Aug 9. The notice did not provide a new start date, but promised to provide the latest update as the school receives information from local authorities.

Three days earlier on Jul 27, Beijing International Bilingual Academy (BIBA) sent out a letter to parents that the school’s start date would be postponed from Aug 11 to Sep 1, citing a government-issued notice that requires public schools to start school at the same time.

AISB-Hope International has also revised their starting date from Aug 17 to Sep 1.

This is in line with the news that all private bilingual schools are required to follow the Chinese National Calendar, as part of a new law enacted by the Chinese government back in May. However, the manner of enforcement of this law was not specified, and enforcement has been varied depending on the different school licenses and board members. It has been said that this law was passed in order to standardize all Beijing schools, starting with the academic calendar, and possibly extending to the curriculum as well.

Many international schools have yet to issue notices regarding school start delays. The starting date for  Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) is still Aug 26 as previously planned. As of Aug 3, the school has not issued any notice to parents of their intention to revise their starting date.

KEEP READING: Beijing Leads Forbes China’s List of Top 50 International Schools in China

Images: Pexels

Nearly two weeks ago, the Chinese government mandated that local schools and non-essentials government offices are going to be closed during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) from November 7-15. Well as of today, the Canadian International School of Beijing and the Children’s House Montessori Kindergarten (all campuses) are both going to be closed as per the notices they have on their websites. So far we were only able to determine that the two schools located in the CBD area have been affected by the notice.

A quick scan through the websites of the schools in Shunyi did not show that their calendars have been affected. But that could or could not change. We will keep you informed.

We did write that the car restrictions will come into effect using the even-odd license plate rule as used during the Olympics. Find out what this means here.

Photo: Dadonenineseveneight (flickr)