Hi Jean, if you will be based in Chengdu you have a huge range of education options for your kids. We have lived here 8 years and are very happy with the education our kids receive. There is a large circle of homeschooling families and some people send their kids to local Chinese schools, but most expats send their kids to international schools which are high quality and offer a range of choices. If you are being sent to Chengdu with a company they will usually pay school fees – I have never heard of people being offered private tutors instead, and am not sure how that would work. However it’s certainly possible, many people hire Chinese langauge tutors and I know one woman who arranged tutors for her high school kids, but she was teaching at Sichuan University so had good contacts there. Also it was only for 6 months.
You can read about the international schools on their websites:
QSI Chengdu – chengdu.qsischool.org
Leman International School – wwww.lis-chengdu.com
CDIS – cdischina.com
There are two others, Etonhouse and Meishi, that you can google and also a Chinese language Waldorf school.
Fees are high but QSI and CDIS I believe offer scholarships in certain situations and the quality of education is very good: small class sizes (8 to 15) with two staff members per class, qualified international teachers, rich extra-curricular programmes, and a really diverse international community. You really need to visit the schools and decide for yourself based on your family’s needs and where you will be living. Of course if you are based elsewhere in Sichuan then none of this applies and tutors or local schools will be your only option. I hope this helps!