School investment attracts professional parents

Binhai New Area in Tianjin has long been a magnet for talented people and the authorities are making it more attractive by ensuring professionals' children have access to schooling opportunities.

Official statistics showed that in 2013 about 400 million yuan was spent to improve local school infrastructure and employ teachers and management teams.

There are 181 primary and middle schools planned for Binhai and 169 of them are now in use, said a local official.

He said seven of the schools were key in Tianjin, and that Nankai High School, whose graduates include premiers Zhou Enlai and Wen Jiabao, and Tianjin No 1 Middle School had established campuses in Binhai.

The efforts benefit many children of migrant professionals.

Fourth grader Zhang Ruihao came to Binhai with his parents from Shandong province three years ago. Though a little bit shy, he has made many friends at school.

"Here the campus is beautiful, teachers caring and classmates friendly. Going to school has become something happy," said Zhang.

Like Zhang's parents, Zhao Jindong is considering moving to Binhai from Beijing.

Zhao is a frequent visitor to the area and said it has better transport and environment than the capital, where he works as a product tester at IT company Vanchip.

After learning that his three-year-old daughter would have easy access to local education Zhao applied for a transfer to the company's Binhai branch.

Binhai is home to 25 kindergartens, where 2,700 teachers take care of more than 23,000 kids, said a local education official, who added that another 12 were due to start admitting children soon.

Each year the government plans to earmark funds for pre-school education and more than 300 million yuan has been spent so far, said the official.

Kindergartens are within easy reach in downtown Binhai but the government is scaling up efforts in rural areas to ensure there is at least one public nursery in every township, the official added.

It is also easy to receive college education in Binhai as the area is home to more than a dozen universities and the list is growing.

New York-based Juilliard School has signed an agreement with local authorities to set up a new campus in Binhai. The 34,500-square-meter campus, which will cost 490 million yuan, is due to be completed in 2016.

"It will become the only place in East Asia for candidates to have interviews before they are admitted to Juilliard School in New York city," said the education official.

Local education authorities are promoting academic exchanges between local Nankai University and Tianjin University, both of which have campuses in Binhai, and Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/10/2014 page36)