Job Discussion Forums

[teenoso]

It's good to see both sides of an argument played out, and just in one city, but this shows how much of a lottery China can be , and with a family in tow, the greater the chances you take.

In many cities in China you won't find overseas -trained doctors and international schools. I think bringing a younger child here is actually easier than a school-aged one (provided there are no serious health problems) because the Chinese school system sucks , and you need to pay loads to escape it in the international school system (and even then, who knows the quality of the teaching there. Are these schools regulated properly ? or at all?).

I don't think it's insulting to those teachers here with kids to point out certain inescapable facts - some cities and parts of China are heavily polluted, over-run with cars and trucks, and resemble building sites. Schools , hospitals and everything else necessary for life vary massively in quality and safety. So you need to have lots of local knowledge to navigate all these issues and find a 'safe haven' here.

[mambawamba]

@ teenoso, I agree that some cities are heavily polluted, some cities have awful traffic and as I listen to the song of drilling and blasting 20m away from my apartment as I drink my morning cuppa yep the construction is there.

Which is why I advise people as such.

Construction is an everyday part of life here. I choose to take an interest rather than whinge. I've never seen a building being put in from start to finish before and I find it interesting but I'm one of those people who likes to know why. I stop to look at how road's are built, how machinery works and if I can get to have a look inside a telephone exchange then my day is made.

I tend not to talk about stuff I don't know about, I leave that to people who have had that experience to give advice on those subjects. However, my experience for the last twenty years has been living overseas and specifically for the last eight as a parent bringing up an international kid. No parent worth their salt would put their child in harm's way. Intentionally or unintentionally.

In terms of schooling many people do choose to bring younger children here and leave to go back to their home countries for education reasons when their child is between 8 and 10.

A foreign passport holder is not allowed to enroll in just any Chinese school. This is a common myth. There are specific schools which have a licence to enroll foreign kids. These are few and far between and usually in cities which have no International school provision. More kindergartens have licences to enroll foreign kids.

International education in international schools is appalling at primary level unless you're talking about Dulwich College which costs over 200,000 RB a year for reception class.

However, for secondary education the level is much better. The average International school has full primary classes and low numbers at secondary. This is a reflection of the demographic of foreigners with kids here.

We lived here when there were 33 foreigners in Harbin, and some of those people had brought kids with them. There was no International Clinic or school. What did they do? They learnt Chinese and homeschooled. You adapt to survive.

China is a lottery but no more than any other country I've lived in. I see foreigners every day who make their own misery then wallow in it but I also see people who have made smart choices and live a good life here.

[Professional TEFLer]

[Professional TEFLer]

[fat_chris]