Chapter 14 Can't afford to "raise" after giving birth?

Hong Kong's education system is the same as its medical system. At first glance, it sounds like a lot of benefits, with a golden road and a bright future: children can enjoy free basic education provided by the government for 9 years in their lives, and only 18 years of high school and university. % of tuition fees, and the remaining 82% comes from government subsidies.But once different families, different individuals and this system are bonded together in thousands of ways, stories will come, and troubles and complaints will come—— By the end of 2005, the total population of Hong Kong had almost overflowed the big tank of 7 million. However, compared with the increase of 55,100 in 2004, the natural growth rate of the local population was only 19,000 this year, and the number of immigrants was as high as 36,100. people.Therefore, the government encourages couples of childbearing age to have more children in order to change the current situation where Hong Kong has entered the lowest birth rate of newborn babies.When I saw this news, I was really upset: Why in my life, I was catching up with the implementation of family planning in the mainland, and the couple could only have one child; while Hong Kong has no restrictions on having children at all, people can open their bellies, But the young people here are unwilling to live more?

One day I gave a good friend a small dress. It was a small children’s dress. My daughter couldn’t buy such a beautiful dress when she was young. Now I can buy it, but my daughter has grown up and can’t wear it anymore. , so I couldn’t help but like to buy one for her daughter. By the way, we also discussed why Hong Kong people are unwilling to have more children when they have conditions and the government encourages them: “It doesn’t matter whether he is a man or a woman. , one more counts as one, don’t you like children?” "Like it!" My friend looked back and forth at the little children's clothing, full of motherhood.

I wondered: "I like it, so why not give birth?" My friend said: "Can you give birth? You can give birth, but you can't afford it!" "Can't afford it?" Where did this come from? My friend seemed to have lifted the vat of bitter water, and scooped it out: "Although Hong Kong is a high-welfare society, if you don't count other living costs, just talk about education. Hong Kong's public schools implement 9-year free compulsory education. It’s true, but there are two ends? There are no public kindergartens in Hong Kong, and the university is not like the mainland, as long as the admission score is passed, the child can go to school, and 40% of the candidates still can’t get in. Moreover, public schools in Hong Kong are generally It is not as good as private schools with good quality and reputation, so parents who have the ability want their children to go to private schools. No, I am busy looking for a kindergarten for my daughter these days, and the registration fee is only 1,000 for an interview. Many, teachers and children meet, I heard that they can only arrange for 10 minutes at most. If you are not admitted, the registration fee will be in vain. If you are admitted, do you know how much the monthly tuition fee will be in the future? More than 3,000 yuan, the school bus fee is 400 yuan, and the child can only stay in the kindergarten for 3 hours a day."

"Really? Then how much money do you need to privately support your daughter from kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, and university?" "4 million, you haven't heard of a famous saying in Hong Kong called '4 million to raise a daughter'? So, the reason why the number of newborn babies in Hong Kong has decreased a lot in recent years is that people can afford to have children but cannot afford to raise them!" "If you don't go to private schools, you can send your child directly to the government's public primary and secondary schools as soon as he graduates from kindergarten. Wouldn't that save a lot of money?" I said.

My friend's face was still uneasy: "Do you think public primary schools in Hong Kong are easy to get into? I mean 'better'. Primary schools in Hong Kong admit students, including middle schools, basically the same as those in the Mainland. The order of registration and other conditions are scored, and the computer assigns seats. But many parents have to rack their brains in order to squeeze their children into a prestigious public school. For example, do you know that Hong Kong does not have a household registration system? Then how to prove one Where does the child live? You have to have proof of address. How do you get these 'proof of address'? You have to really live in that area, so some parents have to go to school very early if they want their children to go to a good school of choice. We have to rent a house near the school, and show the school the monthly bills for water and electricity in the future.”

Yeah?I'm beginning to smell something from the outback— Hong Kong, an international metropolis, has always presented diversified forms of running schools.The coexistence of public schools and private schools not only makes this society a natural competition platform for education, but also allows the offspring of families with different incomes to choose schools to study only within their means. In the past, I heard that many families in Hong Kong sent their children to foreign countries to study in universities. At first, I thought that these parents were rich first, and secondly, because they liked the influence and prestige of foreign universities.But it was only when I came to Hong Kong that I learned that some parents of those children who study abroad are "vomiting blood" in order to increase investment costs for their children and find a decent job after graduation; but others are different, and it is not ruled out In Hong Kong, I couldn’t get into a university at all, or I was admitted, and I fell into the unfortunate 40% possibility again and again.

Objectively speaking, the quality of education in Hong Kong, especially well-known universities such as the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of China, is higher in strength and recognition on the international stage than other prestigious schools in the Mainland, but the selection of students has always been narrow, limited to Hong Kong has become a weakness.Therefore, the 8 government universities in Hong Kong (increased to 9 by the end of 2006) have successively recruited high-quality high school graduates from the Mainland since 2002, in order to promote mutual influence and exchanges between students from different education systems.

In 2006, Hong Kong colleges and universities ushered in the first peak year of enrollment in the mainland: 1,400 mainland students were planned to be recruited, but the number of applicants exceeded 30,000, which led to pressure and a sense of crisis in Peking University, Tsinghua University and other famous schools. Originally, the 40% had already been admitted to university, but the children and parents who could not enter the university due to limited places were even more numerous, and had nowhere to vent their anger. The historical development of Hong Kong for more than a hundred years has benefited from the meeting and collision of Chinese and Western cultures. It is a small place with scarce resources, and talents have always been regarded by the government as the biggest resource that can be relied on.Therefore, in the face of increasingly severe social competition in recent years, parents in Hong Kong have to realize that "hoping for a child to become a dragon" must start from a baby, and one step cannot be empty.So my friend would rather give up the happiness of "more children, more blessings" in his old age, and spend more than 4,000 yuan a month to send his only daughter to a well-known international kindergarten, and then spare no effort to send his daughter from elementary school, middle school, and university to the local area. Go "privately"...