Two students, Russell Ng and Nathan Drisner, of Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS Beijing) have received all A and A* scores in their International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) exams.

YCIS has historically had remarkable IGCSE results, and has collected many awards, including the Cambridge Award for Excellence in Education in 2012, the Cambridge Top in the World IGCSE Award, Top in China IGCSE Award, the High Achievement in IGCSE Award and the Best Across Nine Subjects IGCSE Award.  Results this year were no less impressive, with 98% of students earning distinction and merit awards.

Our congratulations to all IGCSE students at YCIS, and especially to Russell and Nathan.

Photo courtesy of YCIS

Beijing’s rising cost of education has driven many international families to homeschooling their children. We recently examined this trend and The Global Times has also run at an article looking at a few families in the capital who have made this move:

When Ty Ahdieh gets up in the morning at 8:30, he doesn’t have to change out of his pajamas. The 7-year-old brushes his teeth, eats breakfast, and then sits on a chair in the living room with his mom, Theresa, to begin lessons in math and reading. Since Spring Festival this year, Theresa has been homeschooling Ty, mainly because the tuition to attend international schools in Beijing is too high.

"There was not really any affordable alternative for education in Beijing," she said. "We looked at the options — the starting tuition was 110,000 yuan ($18,000) for international schools." Having already homeschooled an older daughter, Monique, Theresa has the confidence to teach another child at home. Theresa is one among many homeschooling parents in Beijing who are choosing this alternative educational style for their children in Beijing. Some fear that homeschooled children will fall behind in their studies or miss out on friendships and learning how to get along with other people. But parents who tried it in Beijing say as long as you have a goal in mind from the beginning, the results can be the same or even better than traditional schools.

Read more of the article here and you can find more information on homeschooling in Beijing by contacting the Beijing Homeschoolers Network.