Beijing's largest school for migrant children to close

"The tuition fees of nearby private kindergartens cost more than 3,000 yuan a month, more than double the fees of Huangzhuang School," said the mother.

"If my daughter cannot go to the public kindergarten, we have to move to suburbs farther away, where house rents and tuition are cheaper."

Another parent surnamed He said his home is close to the Huangzhuang School, and he sends his child to school by bicycle every day. The new school is much farther from his home. He said he might have to send his child back to his hometown if the Huangzhuang School is closed.

Yang Leiqing is a former student of Huangzhuang School, and came to Beijing from his hometown in Sichuan province to join his parents in the late 1990s.

After he moved to Beijing, Yang was first enrolled at a public primary school in the city's suburban district of Tongzhou after his parents paid a hefty fee.

Yang said the three years in that school, in which he was the only non-local student, does not carry pleasant memories.

Yang recalled the discrimination he felt from his schoolmates.

"Once, we played soccer on a hot day. During the break, one of my classmates bought some bottled water and everyone in the game received one, except for me."

Yang said he could not fit into the circle of local students, a situation that only changed when he transferred to Huangzhuang School in fourth grade.

"In Huangzhuang School, all the students are non-locals and come from across the country," he said. In the four years in the school, he developed a close bond with his classmates and teachers, lasting to today.

"The school has a wonderful atmosphere of learning. Even after class, my math teacher Mr He would stay in the classroom to answer our questions, and sometimes he had a small contest for solving math problems to keep up our interest in the subject," Yang said.

A teacher who has been working at Huangzhuang School for 20 years told Caijing magazine on condition of anonymity that after receiving notice the school will be closed, he has decided to send his child back to his hometown, where his wife would take care of him.

"No one can take care of the child back in my hometown. If he goes back alone, he would become a left-behind child," said him. The teacher said he himself will leave Beijing eventually.

By the end of 2017, the city had 7.9 million migrant residents, accounting for more than one-third of the total population.

Migrants' children face school issues