Open house as public schools welcome guests
Print Edition
PUBLIC schools in Shanghai are taking a cue from their private counterparts by holding “open days,” inviting parents to come and inspect their educational facilities, curriculums, teachers and activities.
For the first time, the Shanghai Education Commission is now requiring all public schools to hold such open houses so that families of potential new students become familiar with what they have to offer. The open days at primary and middle schools will be held every weekend through April 7.
“This year, we require all public schools to open their doors to potential future students to show them there are also good public schools and to help ease parents’ anxiety,” said Zhou Qinjian, deputy director basic education at the commission.
It’s all part of the government campaign to ease the extreme competition in educational opportunities. Many parents believe private schools are superior in giving their children the necessary training to pass make-it-or-break-it entrance exams for the best high schools and universities.
Zealousness about private schools leads parents to push their young children into weekend extracurricular cram courses. Education officials said the stress on youngsters needs is hurting their natural development.
Private schools will begin accepting applications for the autumn semester at the end of April. Now is the window of opportunity for public schools to make their case to parents.
Students in Shanghai don’t have to take exams to enter primary and middle schools. If they choose public education, they are assigned to schools in their catchment areas or they are enrolled in middle schools paired with primary schools they have attended.
If they choose private schools, they have to submit applications via a unified system and pass interviews organized by the schools. The lack of promotion by public schools to some extent increases the popularity of private schools and feed parental obsession about getting their children to compete for a limited number of slots in private schools.
Local education authorities want to “level the playing field” by giving public schools the chance to demonstrate that they, too, offer good education.
The best public schools are being encouraged to share their talent and resources with less endowed schools.
Putting their best foot forward, public schools will tell parents on “open days” about their educational philosophy, introduce them to faculty, show off classroom resources and highlight clubs and other school activities.
Banned from open days is any form of testing or formal interviews of potential students.
On its first weekend, the open-day program drew numbers of parents.
At the No. 1 Primary School on North Sichuan Road in the Hongkou District, 98 families came to see what’s on offer.
They were shown how the parent-child reading program works, and children were encouraged to try their hand at school activities such as tie-dying, origami, scissor-cutting and sand painting.
Among the visitors were Xu Jun and his 6-year-old daughter Xu Jingyun. The youngster proudly showed Shanghai Daily a tie-dyed handkerchief and a paper-cutting she made during the visit.
“Though we live only a 10-minute walk from the school, this was the first time we really got to see close-up the kind of program it offers,” said her father. “It’s a chance to judge whether the school is suitable for my daughter.”
He said he found the teachers capable and amiable and was surprised by the level of cultural and sports activities.
“You can see how happy my daughter is,” he said. “I think I can feel at ease with her studying here.”
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