Why are more Chinese parents enrolling children in Malaysia, Singapore schools?

Southeast Asia seen as alternative for overseas study, as Chinese parents look for easier route to quality education for their children

Factors such as cheaper fees for international schools, K-12 institutes affiliated to prestigious Western universities among considerations

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Students during a class in southwest China’s Sichuan province. More Chinese parents are looking at regional neighbours such as Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia as candidates for their children’s secondary and tertiary education. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 8:30am, 8 Oct 2022Updated: 5:46pm, 10 Oct 2022

In 2019, Jenny, a Shanghai-based mother, moved to Malaysia with her four-year-old daughter Miaomiao, determined to find a less stressful way to survive the educational rat race.

Living on the city’s fringes meant the family faced stiff competition and bureaucratic challenges to get Miaomiao into a good school located in the city centre. With an eye on getting the girl into a university in the West in the future, Jenny opted for another route.

She enrolled Miaomiao at IGB International School, a Kuala Lumpur-based private institute offering K-12 education focusing on the International Baccalaureate, a qualified programme for entry to higher education worldwide.

“I don’t want my kid to go through the extremely competitive process as early as elementary school,” said Jenny, who asked to use a pseudonym.

Jenny’s experience is not uncommon. Many middle-class families in China have taken to moving abroad in search of educational opportunities for their children, seeing it as a way out of the gaokao – the country’s hyper-competitive university entrance exam – and the eventual rat race that has locked young people in endless competition without a breakthrough as they try to survive China’s cutthroat society.

Getting their children into Western universities is the ultimate goal for these parents, with some even eyeing citizenship – and its accompanying benefits – in the country of study. And Southeast Asia, with its international schools affiliated to a number of well-known Western universities, is the launch pad for those dreams.