Recently, a worn-down hutong passageway was put up for sale at RMB 1.5 million (USD $227,000). Unfit for living, one might wonder why anyone would bid for it, not to mention buy it for such an outrageous price. When you realize the No. 29 Daer Hutong is in the district of Beijing First Experimental Primary School. The buyer of said hutong could register their household (hukou) and have their child study at the highly ranked primary school in Xicheng district.
Vicinity Policy
The current “vicinity” policy where school places are given based on address was first introduced by the Ministry of Education in 2014, creating a competition for the homes surrounding top ranked schools. Needless to say, home prices have been skyrocketing ever since.
In April this year, Beijing’s individual districts released new policies regarding primary and middle school admissions. Haidian district has adopted a “six years one seat” policy, which means that a single address can only be used for one school seat every six years. Xicheng district requires that the hukou registrant has been living at the address for a certain number of years before a child qualifies for a seat.
Did we mention the above only applies if you have Beijing hukou? Shijingshan district has ruled that Beijing resident permit holders (“green card”) no longer qualify for education as Beijingers do. Fengtai district requires employment and housing status proof if applicants don’t have Beijing hukou.
Competition is Tough
To give an idea of why property prices have risen out of control and why even rental costs have gone up (for non-Beijingers), let’s look at some statistics. In 2015, Beijing’s primary schools had 160,000 registered students, of which 100,000 were local Beijingers, and 60,000 kids did not have Beijing hukou. Based on the China Education Newspaper statistics, the top 25 primary schools are in Dongcheng, Xicheng, and Haidian districts, which only accepted 5,000 students.
Photo: Wikipedia Commons
5 Comments
Hey Jessica
This really sucks, but at the same time it’s also true for Korea. Competition is so tough!
Interesting Jackie! So do you have to have a hukou in Korea also? Or is it simply just good neighborhoods with good schools?
About the hukou I’m not sure…but from what I know it’s address-based. One place in Seoul, Daechi-dong, has really old apartments but rent is extremely expensive because the best schools are in that area.
It’s similar in the US as well…When I transitioned from elementary school to middle school we moved from LA county to OC for a significantly better school district. Even now, the districts with the top 10 schools are so popular you can’t even find a house on the market.
I couldn’t imagine! Typically where I’ve lived in the States public schools are at least OK, but most are good and a few have been amazing. A lot of families I’ve known will end up homeschooling if they don’t like the schools in the area, but I know that this isn’t a legal option for Chinese families. And then… who could really afford for one parent to stay home in Southern California?