Primary-level boarding schools are now gaining popularity among the city's young parents, especially for high-income white-collar workers who can't afford the time and effort to help educate their own children.

Consider the experience of the Zhengli Road No. 2 Primary School, a public primary school in Yangpu District. Nearly 80 parents came in recently to apply for the 20 boarding slots that will be open for next semester.

"Applications were booked up within several hours, and some parents even tried to use guanxi - personal contact with the headmasters - to get the school to spare a bed for their children," said Zhang Yi, the school's headmaster.

The demand was so intense that some parents even quarreled with teachers when they arrived at the school and found that the quota had been filled.

At the privately owned Shanghai Kangqiao Primary School in suburban Nanhui District, the number of applicants also doubled the enrollment availability for the fall term.

School officials said that more than 200 applicants have registered to compete for four classes comprising 96 seats.

Le xiujun, headmaster of the Kangqiao school, said that most of parents applying were office workers with high educational backgrounds.

"As those parents hold senior positions in their companies, they are always so devoted to their careers that they're too busy to take care of their children's daily lives and studies," Le said.

Children coming from single-parent families or parents who are well-off but aren't highly educated accounted for about 20 percent of the applicants, teachers said.

Fan pingsheng, father of a 10-year-old boy, said he was sending his son to a boarding school to teach him to be independent.

"Children are indulged by their parents and grandparents at home. Living with their peers as well as the abundant extracurricular activities at school are sure to benefit their future lives," said Fan, senior manager of an international trade company.

Educators warned parents, however, that they should think twice before sending their children to a boarding school because the separation can weaken kinship and may create psychological problems.

(Shanghai Daily June 17, 2005)