Parents get in early – five days – to avoid kindergarten queue crush

How competitive it could be to enter a kindergarten in Beijing? Parents in a housing estate in the capital city’s Fengtai District have started to queue up at the door of a kindergarten five days before the enrollment starts.

Then Beijing Youth Daily reported that the kindergarten in Jinrun Housing Estate planned to recruit 100 children this year and that enrolment would this Saturday. But on Wednesday there were already about 80 queuing outside the door.

“We thought we were early birds. But many others arrived before us,” a parent told the newspaper. “It was reported that the queue started to form on Monday. “

The kindergarten is the only one serving the estate with an estimated 6,000 households.

Homes located near quality primary schools are still selling for a premium, even in the mainland's sluggish property market. Prices for apartments near renowned primary schools in Shanghai are shooting up thanks to strong demand from parents who want to secure a position for their children, local media reports.

A flat measuring just 280 square feet recently came onto the market with an asking price of 3 million yuan (HK$3.8 million), according to the Shanghai Morning Post. A property agent said the demand for such “school district apartments” had risen by as much as 50 per cent in the past four months.