China's top education authority has launched a new enrollment system for public schools which may help cool the country's overheated housing market.
In the Ministry of Education (MOE)'s Friday statement on education in urban areas, the MOE said that the new system would expand the range of primary and middle schools available to city residents. Parents will be able to choose their children's school from a list of local options.
The MOE statement said that the new system should be enforced in cities where "education quality is uneven" and "enrollment competition is fierce."
Previously, children were only able to attend the school closest to their home. This system has caused housing prices near prestigious schools to skyrocket in recent years, as parents shell out huge sums to ensure their children get the best education available.
Wang Dinghua, the director general of the MOE's Department of Basic Education, said at a press conference in November that the new enrollment system may help rebalance the housing market, as parents will no longer be able to buy their children a place at top schools. "Even though they have bought a house in the school's area, they still won't know which school their kids will go to," said Wang.
However, this plan has been met with both skepticism and criticism.
A Beijing realtor, named He Yongyao, told the Global Times, "We haven't heard about the new enrollment system. In fact, house prices are still going up, especially near schools. It has gone up by between 10,000 ($1,532) to 20,000 yuan per square meter (in the central Xicheng district) in recent weeks."
However, some worry the system has no clear standards for selecting pupils, and argue that this would cause new inequality, China National Radio reported Tuesday.
