This news may not be shocking to New Yorkers or those who reside in other urban centers where the cost of attending private kindergarten can be upwards of $30,000 a year. But a Christian Science Monitor story on the price in China may draw some gasps.
The Monitor reports that kindergarten prices in China have now eclipsed the cost of college, and the supply, of course, does not meet the demand as the country’s economic power grows. Beijing education authorities have already increased class sizes to 40 and added classrooms for another 12,000 places, but even a planned expansion of 12,000 seats won’t be sufficient.
“It is almost impossible, according to parents and teachers, to find a reputable kindergarten in Beijing that charges less than 1,000 renminbi ($150) a month, which is a quarter of an average salary in the capital,” the paper reports. “Some charge five times that, putting intense strain on the budgets of even better-off young parents already burdened by heavy mortgages.”
While a baby boom is fueling the demand, the story also cited a newfound sense of competition (familiar to New Yorkers of means) about how early childhood education shapes a child’s future and has become equally important to some Chinese — despite daunting costs for kindergarten.
“We don’t want to spend that much, but if we have no choice, we will have to,” one parent told The Monitor, who added that he did not want his son to be behind once he entered elementary school.
It would be fascinating to know more about what Chinese programs are considered high quality, what expectations exist for the curriculum and what kind of training kindergarten teachers get. Stories about competition for spots in both public and private programs in the U.S. rarely detail what actually happens inside the classroom.
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