According to the study, such privileged students in Beijing account for eight to ten percent of all students in elite schools.
Their parents may claim that the money is for school construction, but this is not the real purpose. "No one would give others a large amount of money without asking for it to be paid back," said Yang Dongping, chairman of the 21st Century Education Research Institute.
"And although many parents are not willing, they are forced to do the same thing. If they do not provide the money, their children may miss their only chance to get into an elite school," added Yang.
Powerful families can also pull strings to ensure that their children are accepted into elite schools. Some government agencies even sponsor exclusive classes in elite schools for children of their employees, a practice condemned by Yang.
The phenomenon so far can only be found in Beijing, where many key government departments are located.
The junior schools, besides having the responsibility of educating teenagers, should also focus on improving children's personalities. But the scandals and malpractices are setting a bad example.
Others who opt out of the lotteries but don't have influential parents have the option of attending after-school training camps run by elite schools to improve their chances of being admitted. But only students who perform excellently at the camps are selected.
Schools open the training camps to earn extra cash and select future students, though the practice runs contrary to China's goal of offering free and compulsory education to every child, said Yang Dongping.
To get into better schools, students need to simultaneously attend two or more training camps from third grade onwards, which is both time-consuming and expensive.
Generally, the training camps charge an average of 8,000 yuan per year, which adds up to a large amount of money for a child who attends a camp for the four years leading up to junior high school.
Although some parents are now searching for new ways to educate their children, such as establishing home schools with other parents, hiring teachers to work at home or teaching their children themselves, most Chinese parents have no choice but to enter their children into the citywide race to the top.
