Chinese parents prefer home-schooling for their kids

According to the latest report by the 21st Century Education Research Institute, roughly 18,000 children are already practicing home-schooling in the Chinese mainland

Fed up with the difficulties in admitting their children to schools and disappointed with the poor standards of education, more and more Chinese parents are opting home-schooling for their children. "It's really competitive to get into the best schools in Beijing, but home-schooling can save a lot, and you need not to worry about your children's safety either," Leng Shan, a parent said.

Home-schooling is being chosen by more and more Chinese parents, especially those from economically developed regions like Guangdong and Zhejiang and in Beijing, the quality of education is still poor. Doubts about the China's education system have been growing, state-run Xinhua news agency said.

According to the latest report by the 21st Century Education Research Institute, roughly 18,000 children are already practicing home-schooling in the Chinese mainland. More than half of those chose home-schooling because of dissatisfaction with the education system in the schools, the report said.

Yuan Peikun, a Chinese national from the city of Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province is also opting for home instruction rather than a traditional classroom siting. "We just felt like the system was failing my son, and much of what the school is teaching is useless," Yuan said. In addition to parent-to-child home-schooling, small-sized private home schools have also emerged in China.

However, parents also raise concern that home-schooling can have a negative impact on psychological development due to a lack of communication with their peers. "I take my child to participate in various activities held by community organisations as much as possible in order to cultivate his communication skills," Yuan said.

Dissatisfied with the education system and seeking something different, many parents choose to educate their children at home, which is expected to bring reform to regular schools, said Xiong Bingqi, vice-president of the institute. Xiong added that there are no laws to standardise such education in China, or professional evaluation of parents' teaching ability which are much needed. -PTI