Expat families living in Beijing have another thing to worry about: increasingly expensive tuition to of international schools in the city. Some families have opted to return to their home country as a means to address the issue, the Global Times reported.
"Sending him [my son] to Western schools like Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) or International School of Beijing (ISB) costs more than a college education for my daughter, say at least $30,000 every year," shared American expat Theresa Ahdieh, who has been living in Beijing with her husband, a software engineer at Microsoft, and their 10-year-old son, Ty.
"I cannot afford that," Ahdieh added.
Some expat families have managed to make things work, however, but not without making sacrifices.
According to stats procured by edu.sina.com, parents had to pay over 200,000 yuan ($30,900) for the annual tuition of a junior or a senior at the WAB for the academic year of 2014.
Several lifestyle changes have to be made to afford sending her two teen girls to WAB, said Anna Gillian (pseudonym), who works in the medical industry. Vacations have been cut, and they moved to a smaller apartment. The fact that she and her husband, who also works full-time in Beijing, have no expat package is also a burden.
"We're trying really hard, but unfortunately, the situation isn't great, because there just aren't that many options," Gillian said.
Even pre-school education at a local international school is pricey, as Conan Smith (pseudonym), an Australian who works at an international school's administrative staff, shared.
"It is unfortunate that there aren't more options for expat parents on low-middle incomes," Smith, who wants to send his baby girl to a good school, said. "For me, the annual tuition costs for pre-kindergarten at a standard local international school is the equivalent of my entire year's salary."
Experts say, however, that expensive international schools are not uncommon as they are just at par, even more affordable, than international schools in the West.
"Quality schools [in New York] are often private schools with wildly high tuitions that are higher than top schools like WAB in Beijing," said Christopher Lipinski, principal of Joystar International Kindergarten in Wangjing.