Late last night (May 5) WeChat groups began to buzz with speculation that the Beijing Municipal Education Commission (BMEC) had decided to shut down all kindergarten and preschool programs for the remainder of the year. The discussions seem to have been provoked by messages allegedly from school administrators sharing this news, along with information on how this would stand to affect their teachers’ contracts and employment status.

At this stage, we cannot officially confirm whether this message is authentic or that schools have indeed been given a directive to close by the BMEC. However, the Commission has made no official statement on their website or social media platforms. According to the BMEC website, they have not issued any new information since April 16.

Furthermore, on Apr 21 the Ministry of Education (MOE) sent out a press release urging local support for private kindergartens. The press release “calls on local education-related government departments to prioritize assistance given to private kindergartens in overcoming difficulties in this tough period. It urges local authorities to target assistance at helping these privately run kindergartens solve critical problems and addressing challenges they face while differentiating between the different types of kindergartens.” Furthermore, they state that “all local education departments should mobilize funding from multiple channels to increase support especially to generally beneficial non-state kindergartens.”

In Beijing, high school seniors are already back on campus and grade 9 students will follow suit on May 11. There is currently no news as to when the remaining grades will be able to return to school. On Apr 27, the MOE also recommended that schools stick to their regular hours, and discouraged adding additional classes to summer vacation and extending school hours. They suggested schools to stick to regular Monday through Friday schedule and online classes to make up for classwork lost to COVID-19. If classwork genuinely cannot be completed within the remaining regular school days, the ministry suggests moving some assignments into the next school year.

KEEP READING: Does a College Education Really Make Cents?

Photos: Unsplash

Beijing authorities are conducting a review of the city’s private kindergartens, with many being forced to reduce their fees and bring their curricula and practices into line with publicly-run facilities, or be taken over by local government. However beijingkids has seen no evidence to support speculation that this is the first stage of a clampdown on all privately-owned schools.

The clampdown appears to be a long-term result of the city’s building boom of the mid-2000s. Developers were required to include space for kindergartens in all new developments, to meet the city’s daycare needs of having favcilities like child care Werrington. However most developers sold or leased the space to other suppliers. Many of these companies took advantage of the shortage of kindergarten places, and the high value placed on education in Chinese culture, to charge extravagant, if not extortionate, fees. The new rules require them to be run as public facilities, and not for profit.

Currently over 60 percent of Beijing kindergartens are privately owned, and accommodate just over half of preschoolers. (Class sizes are usually smaller in private facilties.) The government’s target is that by 2020 80 percent of kindergartens will be run publicly or as non-profits. However, according to Zhangxing, a researcher from Zero Power Intelligence Group, this is not the end for the private preschool sector. Once the 80 percent goal has been reached, there will still be a substantial number of private kindergartens. The option will still be open to parents to pay more for “elite” facilities (which may include foreign teachers); the purpose of the clampdown seems to be to make sure low-cost local options are also available.

As foreign teachers are usually paid more, the reduced fees may result in some kindergartens no longer being able to employ them. However the government is only currently taking action against kindergartens which are part of residential compounds. Recent tightening of regulations on the qualifications of foreign teachers, and the curriculum taught at Chinese-owned private schools, have led to some speculation on social media that this is the beginning of a more general restriction on private education. However beijingkids has at this point seen no evidence to support this, or to suggest there is any cause for alarm for teachers and parents in the international community.

(Featured image is a stock photograph. No criticism is intended of the practices of the kindergarten depicted.)

Photo: Ariel Ophelia via Creative Commons

The Los Angeles Times recently picked up on the news of Beijing kindergartens forcing children to use chopsticks in school in its article, “No spoons allowed: Beijing is pressuring its 4-year-olds to eat only with chopsticks“.  The article was aptly timed to coincide with Panda Express’ release of the “chork“, a new dining tool with a fork on one end and chopsticks at the other end–a tool LA Times doesn’t think will be welcomed in Beijing, even though I’d trade chopsticks for it any day!

The news came as a surprise to me because although the corn bowl set I bought for Jax has a spoon, a fork, and a pair of chopsticks–I never took the chopsticks out for him to use.  Not only does a chopstick look more like a weapon than a spoon or spork, but little boys are known to do mischievous things with them.  There have been plenty of horror stories about children and chopsticks, such as this fourteen-month-old who stuck one up his nose (and survived!); or the eleven-month-old who fell on a chopstick, piercing his brain and right eye socket; and even two-year-olds are not safe from the dangers of chopsticks.

While many parents, especially in Japan and the West, will offer “children’s chopsticks” instead, even creating makeshift ones out of a pair of chopsticks and a rubber band, such a tool would not satisfy the Beijing education ministry.

Beijing has recently discovered that 75 percent of kindergartens (in the study location, not Beijing) do not enforce chopstick use in under 5-year-olds, with only 14.6 percent of kindergartens offering chopsticks to children.  This study shows that kindergartens are not challenging children’s motor skills enough, especially not in a “cultural” way, as suggested by another chopsticks / motor skills study. The latter study suggests that early education of motor skills, specifically in chopsticks usage, affects how adults use chopsticks later in life; any corrections should be made early on. The best time to learn chopsticks, as determined by the first study, is at the age of four.

However, parents of Beijing kindergarten students rue the day this study was introduced to Beijing’s education ministry. Many complain that their children are not ready for chopsticks, and, since they’re not allowed to eat without chopsticks, return home hungry and discouraged.  If you’re sending your child to a local kindergarten, make sure you’re ready for their chopstick enforcement!

I remember having chopsticks at home while growing up, but always used a spoon to eat. Even today, I do not hold my chopsticks “the proper way”, but tend to hold them like I’d hold a pen.  Needless to say, I still prefer using a spoon. I won’t be introducing chopsticks to my son until primary school or later (not even a chork!). Til then, he can use a spork.

Photo: TheChork.com, By Isabella Lucy Bird [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

For the coming weeks, we will be highlighting local and international schools around Beijing from our upcoming 2014-2015 School Choice Guide, which comes out in early February 2014. Scroll down for more information on how to participate in our annual school choice fair in March 2014.

Located in the Shuangjing area, the American International Academy of Beijing (AIAB, A派国际双语幼儿园) provides an authentic Montessori-based teaching approach to preschool education. Emphasizing the idea that “virtue leads to wisdom,” AIAB tailors teaching to meet each child’s needs and follows both the Montessori and Chinese National curriculums to ensure that children are able to enter either international or local Chinese schools. The bilingual Montessori program is specially designed for developing a “good character for the whole child” in a safe environment.

Founding date: September 2012

School type: Bilingual Montessori Kindergarten

Is the school registered with the Ministry of Education？No

Tuition fees (2014-2015 Academic Year): RMB 82,500 (11 months)

Other fees:
Application fee – RMB 10,000 Lunch fee – RMB 10,890 (Chinese and Western meals delivered from Culinary Capers)
Bedding Fee: RMB 600

Age range: 1.5-6 years

Number of students: 80

Nationality of students: US, UK, Swiss, Irish, Hong Kong

Foreign passport holders accepted? Yes

Local Chinese students accepted? Yes

Primary teaching languages: English and Chinese

Languages taught: English and Chinese

Class size: max 12 (half-day class), max 16 (nursery), max 20 (primary)

Teacher/student ratio: 1:3 (half-day), 1:4 (nursery), 1:5 (primary)

School hours: 8.30am-4.30pm

After school activities offered: Wushu, vocal music, percussion, happy cooking, art etc.

School facilities: Montessori classrooms, a dance studio, library, music room, baking room, meeting room, clinic and outdoor playground.

Total Area of Campus: 2,000 sqm

School nurse: Yes

Contact: Building 5, 78 Baiziwan Nan Er Lu, Chaoyang District (8776 0606, apaiacademy@ gmail.com) www.aiab.com.cn 朝阳区百子湾南 二路78号院5号楼

For more information on the 2014-2015 School Choice Guide e-mail editor@beijing-kids.com and click here to view the 2013-2014 School Choice Guide on ISSUU. For more information on our upcoming School Choice Fair on March 1-2, 2014, please e-mail schoolchoicefair@truerun.com

Photo courtesy of AIAB

Hot on the heels of Shuangjing’s newest kindergarten, a bilingual children’s center featuring both foreign English teachers and local Chinese teachers is opening on September 3, 2012 in Shunyi.

Here’s a breakdown of the center’s features:

• Age group: 2-6
• School hours: 8am-4pm
• Tuition fees: RMB 2,500 per month (including breakfast, lunch, and two snacks)
• Bus fees: RMB 500 per month
• Location: Unit D2-101, Kangying Jiayuan (close to Grand Hills), Jingmi Lu, Shunyi District
• Contact information: 150 1139 2107 (Rommel), 130 3112 5087 (Sampa), nakafusha@hotmail.com, or penuu@yahoo.com

If you’re interested in finding out more, there will be an open day on Saturday, September 1 from 9am to 11am.

Photo by Peter-Ashley via Flickr

Exciting news for Shuangjing parents! The neighborhood has a new kindergarten. The American International Academy of Beijing (AIAB) is a bilingual international school now enrolling students. Classes will use a Montessori curriculum and are slated to begin in mid-September, and there will be an informational session this Sunday, August 12 at 9.40am.

The school will have a toddler class for children 18 months through 3 years of age, with a maximum of 16 children per class, and a preschool class for children between 3 and 6 years old, with a maximum of 25 children per class. There will also be a pre-elementary class for 5 to 6-year-olds.

AIAB will be located just across from Beijing City International School. The bilingual curriculum will alternate language days, with classes in English one day and classes in Chinese the next.

Visit AIAB’s website for information on enrollment and school details. Note that the information session this Sunday will take place at the school offices, not at the campus.

American International Academy of Beijing A 派国际双语幼儿园
Office Address: Bldg 5, 31 Guangqu Lu (beside the Shuangjing Carrefour), Chaoyang District (8776 0606) 朝阳区广渠路31号院5号楼（双井家乐福西边）

Campus Address: Bldg 5, 78 Baiziwan Nan’erlu, Chaoyang District
朝阳区百字湾南二路78号院5号楼

Photo by floeschie via Flickr

The name may conjure images of Medieval plagues or equestrian illnesses, but annual outbreaks of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease have become very much a routine reality in Beijing.

Not to be confused with "Foot (or Hoof) and Mouth Disease" (which afflicts livestock), this viral born ailment is common in small children and infants and causes "fever and blister-like eruptions in the mouth and/or a skin rash." Late spring/early summer outbreaks are a common occurrence in the capital, and though it is generally not considered a very serious illness, a few deaths have been reported in Beijing in the past few years, including a one-year-old baby in April of this year.

Varying degrees of severity notwithstanding, Beijing municipal regulations stipulate that if two or more cases are reported in a single class within a week, the class must cease operations for ten days. Likewise, if ten cases are reported in a single kindergarten within a week, the entire school will be ordered to shut down operations for ten days as well.

This week one student at my daughter’s school has reportedly fallen ill (with no word, yet, on any others), so it remains to be seen if we will be obliged to babysit at home for the next couple of weeks should her class get suspended. As of this past Tuesday, parents have been restricted from entering the school grounds when dropping off or picking up their children (a measure which elicits mixed reactions in my mind). For now, it seems, the most sensible measure is for everyone in the house, especially the young ones, to continually and thoroughly wash their hands upon returning from outside.