95.000

There is no question that our concept of the Chinese people is wrong. IT is so easy to judge when you are abroad and so different when you are living amonst the nation. How many politicians do we all know, who promise one thing and then do another when in office. We talk all about the human rights situation in China, about how the people were thrown out of their homes to make room for the Olympic stadium, but I don't remember hearing the same stories when they happened in Sydney. It is true, people were uprooted and compensation was paid, but we all know well enough, even from ourselves in Israel, that the compensation never compensates enough to buy a new home.

When we hear about the one child policy, we too feel that this is a mark against the free will and rights of this large population and feel for the families that have to pay a fine, or fee if they have an extra child if they live in the city. But, what we don't hear or know, is that if the child is him or herself an only child, this rule does not apply.

I know now full well, even after the limited time that I have lived here, how much pressure is put on the parent for the child to succeed. We know full well how worrying it is to take and care for our offspring, to make sure that they stay in good health and free of accident, how the more so if you have only one, we too would wrap them up in cotton wool.

But what we don't know, or even think about, is that this coming summer,
just in Beijing alone, there are 95,000 boys and girls, all trying to enter
High School. There are no shortage of places, but a short list to enter the
top ones, where parents are willing to work and pay for the private education of their child, to hopefully ensure his greater chance to succeed in an already overflowing society. But, even though there are a number
of top or good schools in this large city, there is limited room and in one
that I have been told of, only 400 chairs available.

In the world at large, many people choose not to have children at all, whereas there are others who choose to have many, whether for love of kids, religion or just enjoy giving birth - we don't condemn them. We may
'tut tut' and comment and talk between ourselves, but do not outright say a lot, certainly not to the first.

I, a mother of four, can feel a mother's need to have more, but also see today with greater clarity how much pressure there is on the parent for their child to do well. There are no playtimes after school, or at the weekend, just an increasing roller coaster of extra curriculum study activities that shows weariness both in parent, grandparent and child.

Let us just imagine if there was in Beijing alone, 190.000 children entering high school in the fall? Where would the government or families find the money or places for all those children, that would continue to increase every year.

Maybe however hard is the rule, the benefit to country may be greater in the end. I don't know, I can only listen and watch - what about you?