A 7-year-old Korean girl can sing Chinese songs even better than Chinese children, her music teacher has said.
Baek Min Jeong who is from the Republic of Korea (ROK) has been studying for eight months in Grade One at Huijia primary school in Beijing.
She is among about 180 foreign students who are in the kindergarten, primary and middle school of Huijia. They come from 12 countries including the ROK, Japan, France, the United States and the Philippines.
Huijia has been allowed to enroll foreign students since October 2000 and is the only private school in Beijing with the authority to do so.
While Chinese students are flocking overseas for their higher education, more and more foreign parents are sending their children to receive higher education in top Chinese universities.
Baek Seung Yeob, Baek Min Jeong's older brother, is in Grade Five of the primary school in Huijia. He has great ambitions for his future and wants to go to Tsinghua University. "I love science and Tsinghua is the best place," he said.
The eight ROK students who graduated from Huijia senior high school this year have all been admitted to Chinese universities. Among them five will go to Peking University and one to Tsinghua University.
Their parents who specially came here to attend a commencement ceremony at the Huijia school were pleased with their children's achievements. The father of Park Si Hyung who has been admitted to Beijing University said the children have a brighter future if they receive their education in China because the country is growing rapidly in its economy.
Oh Hye Sook, who organizes educational exchanges between the ROK and China, has sent more than 1,000 Korean students to China. Oh said many Korean parents want their children to receive their education in China. A degree from a Chinese university paves the way to a brighter future.
Huijia is a college preparatory school and its foreign students take the same classes together with Chinese students. Liu Xin'en, director of the Foreign Students Department in Huijia, said primary-level foreign students go straight into the same class as Chinese students and catch up with them within a year even if they have no Chinese initially. Middle school students must receive training in Chinese first.
Huijia has an enlightened way of teaching. "The parents are happy to find that the teachers here never beat or scold their children. They are very grateful to the Chinese teachers' patience and care," said Oh.
Oh Hye Sook is guardian to many ROK students in Huijia. He said school discipline is very strict and the children need time to adapt to it. He believes this discipline ensures the healthy development of foreign students.
Pamela, an 8-year-old Philippine girl, is in the same grade as her brother while her younger sister and brother are in the kindergarten. Although she misses her friends in the Philippines, Pamela still enjoys life in China. "The teachers and classmates are very kind," she said. She has swimming classes everyday whereas in the Philippines they were not available until grade five or six.
The tuition for foreign students in Chinese schools is no more expensive than that in western schools, according to Liu. The parents still show strong interest in Chinese schools. Principal of Huijia Wang Jiajun interviewed 200 applicants in the ROK recently.
Song Byung Kuk, another ROK student, has been admitted to Peking University. "We come to China because our parents know about China's reform and opening up policy and its prosperous economy as well," said Song at the commencement ceremony on behalf of the ROK students from Huijia.
Statistics show that China has received 350,000 foreign students since 1978.
(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2002)
