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I posted here last year seeking information on living costs in Chengdu.
The plan was to relocate as a family in April last year. Due to family commitments we had to postpone, but now we are eager to relocate.
A bit of background info… We are a family of 5, 3 kids aged 13, 12, and a 2 year old. Husband is employed by Sichuan University, I am a piano teacher, however, my employment status for now is uncertain.
The condition of my husband’s employment and the salary, after months of negotiation, seem to be reasonable.It looks like that the major block is education for my older children.
We can’t seem to find a school that could cater for their needs in terms of language. I don’t want to send the to international school, as simply put we can’t afford one.Any suggestions?
That can be a difficult one. International schools are super expensive. These links may be helpful:
She’s Back!
Any suggestions?
Yes, stay in England. Don’t put ur kids in a shitty position since u don’t seem to know what ur getting urself into or have not really planned well.
But if u MUST, considering ur criteria……HOMESKOOOLLLL…..
I don’t see any problems for your kids to go to local schools(if they can get in, heard to be hard to do so.). To put them in a International school is kind of isolate them from the locals, which I consider that is a bad thing for kids. Fundamental education in China for subjects such as Math, Natural Science, etc which I think are better than other countries. But this is just my opinion. At least, it won’t hurt if they learn one more language.
Ur not helping this confused woman with ur bad advice and thinking.
Local schools? the kids will learn in a chinese school without being able to read or write or understand chinese? ben dan.
and besides, everyone, including u and ur countrymen understand that the education system is pretty shitty, not to mention the fact of being brainwashed with a bunch of “SUPPORT THE PARTY” shit and false information.
Perhaps u don’t see this because u r a product of ur education?
She’s Back!
Any suggestions?
Yes, stay in England. Don’t put ur kids in a shitty position since u don’t seem to know what ur getting urself into or have not really planned well.
But if u MUST, considering ur criteria……HOMESKOOOLLLL…..
Indeed I can’t possibly know about schools in China, 5 brief visits weren’t enough to form an informed opinion, particularly when it comes to educating our children.
What makes it that bad? Is it a personal view, or this is the sentiment of larger expats community. Surely, not everyone can pay extortionate fees of international schools.
We both work in education sector, and probably, just about…. qualified to say that the education system, its setting, particularly high school environment would match your description.I don’t understand why you ask this. What does it matter re: the quality of local schools?
If you can’t afford the intl’ schools which are the only ones that could cater to your kids that will be in Middle School ( not Senior School, btw) then u have ur answer.
What alternative do you have? what kind of answer are you looking for? There is no magical solution as far as I know. The only option left is the what I suggested, since u are determined to move here.
@infallible star
I might be able to assist with a suitable solution for you.
My wife and I faced the same issue and only just moved to Chengdu from Australia after finding a suitable education option for our 5yr old son.
There is a new International school (which I now work at) in the East of Chengdu which is taught in a bilingual environment (English and Chinese). It is an I.B system teaching grades K-12 and also offers boarding for kids over 8yrs old. The school is a campus of Beanstalk International Bilingual School (BIBS) from Beijing where it has been operating for 24 years. There are 8 campuses in Beijing, 1 in Kunming, XiAn and now Chengdu. All our classroom teachers are experienced foreign teachers and the majority of the school management team is also foreign.
The campus is huge and caters for 1,500 students. It has a full size running track, swimming pool, soccer field, basketball courts and a 2 story cafeteria serving western and Chinese food.
We will open grades K1-G8 on August 22 this year and are offering some amazing discounts as we are a new campus. If you would like to come and visit the school, please add me on WeChat: BrentNW , or call: 8481 0088 . If the price is affordable for you then I think this will be a good solution for all of your children.
There is more info if you need it on our website bibs.com.cn
Hi Infallible Star
Certainly the biggest problem you face is education for the two older kids. The two-year old could grow up Chinese if you so like. Your older children would in no way simply mesh into the Chinese public school system (where at that age there is tremendous exam stress). Then, as you say, international schools would monetarily flush a family of five. Home schooling seems to be the best option, which doesn’t necessarily mean you have to do it all. There are Chinese tutors in everything (most importantly maths and science) – for a low price. You, of course, would be the authority on their English learning. Then, you let the kids run loose on the streets of Chengdu to get everything else they’d need to grow up in this country.
Thank you for your input.
We will explore all the possibilities and I trust we will be able to find the best option that will suit our children and help achieve their aspirations.
It is a learning curve and we are bound to have upsets and pleasant surprises on the way. I will keep updating and will be on a lookout for more information.
Hi all,
Can anyone explain the formal route for Z visa, please.
Sichuan University has asked Bureau of foreign experts affairs for foreign experts permit. To receive such permit we were told to undergo a lengthy and expensive (not covered by NHS) medical examination, which has to be sent to them BEFORE being granted the permit.
The question is…do we really need to go through medical in the UK, to get this foreigh experts permit, which alone with Duly authorise invitation letter, is essential for us to obtain Z visa.Thank you
I would love my child to attend a local school to gain a cultural experience. Is this even possible? I agree with Luofubo, don’t really want to isolate her completely. I am having a hard time finding out if it’s even possible, so if anyone finds out this info before me, please share 🙂
About the medical…..I just went through the process at a local travel clinic in my home town in South Africa. Seems you can’t get the Z visa without it, but it was quick and painless…It cost me R800, which is about 40 pounds I guess. You then have to send off the original document (I used DHL).
Tracey, thank you for your input.
We did go through medical, it was far more than £40!
We were a bit rushed to do it quicker, and ended paying a lot for the very basic form-based examination report. No blood work, no X ray nothing of a sort. Simply paid to state that we are fit and healthy and not mad.
The form then was sent electronically to HR, I am not sure if this is enough, as we are now waiting for invitation letter and foreign expert permit to take it to embassy. We are not there yet, but have a feeling that things moving very slowly.
About education in mainstream school… I found many expats do send their children to mainstream schools. From what I was told ( and this is the information that was passed on to me, not my experience) is that mainstream school is still to paid for, but much less than private/international etc. Depending on the school, immersion is exercised and provisions are made for extra language tutorial. I was told that it takes somewhere between 6-12 months for a child to make reasonable adjustments and be somewhat proficient to continue without extra supervision/help. Whilst local kids have to take extremely hard exams to graduate from the school, foreign children are exempt from such exams and will receive their graduation certificate which will allow them to progress further.
I think my main concern is the age of my children (boys), the language barrier and the fact that the teaching and learning style which is very relaxed in the UK will cause them a lot of stress. I guess, all depends on your child and her age. The younger she is, the easier it will be. But it is a possibility and a very real one. I will keep updating if I come to more information.Even though I would select another language I am in total agreement with drjtrekker!
Coming to China with two adults and three children on one teacher’s salary is simply calling for troubles.
The solution you are searching most probably does not exist and you will most probably make your trip as short of possible in order not to put your children into too big a disadvantage when returning back to Europe and re-enrolling them to school.
I am sure that on top of education you will struggle with finances just to mantain your family at decent (from even East European perspective) but that you may be willing to accept in exchange for “culture and language” immersion for your children – but then you need years – not just one.
Education is then simply unsolvable unless you can do the homeschooling in the level UK education system can accept in order to prevent troubles after return.
Forget local private teachers as they will either not speak English or they will not be cheap from one teacher’s salary perspectice.
Local education is then out of question due to language barrier – but not even talking about recognising the lical education in Europe …
I just hope that these repeated quedtions are not neant seriously and are part of some joke …
Hi, I’m Lisa with Brilliance Learning Center. I saw your post about being interested in learning Chinese. We look forward to discussing with you more in detail how we can help you achieve your language goals. If you are interested in finding out more information about studying with Brilliance, please email me back via [email protected], and we can send you more information and set up a time to talk more after you settled down in Chengdu. You can also check out our website at http://www.brilliance-learnchinese.com.
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