Shanghai adds 50 new schools to meet rising demand

High school students from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region sing and dance for the train conductor after arriving in Shanghai yesterday. The train brought 1,500 Xinjiang students who will study in Shanghai. — Xinhua

Given the baby boom and influx of migrant families, the Shanghai Education Commission yesterday announced the opening of 50 new public schools in the city.

Half of the 50 new schools are kindergartens while 17 are primary schools. The rest are middle and high schools.

A new international school — Wellington College International Shanghai — is also among them and will start its inaugural batch with more than 300 students.

The school, located in the Qiantan business zone of the Pudong New Area, is expected to benefit expatriate families as the zone is set to house several multinational firms.

The commission said the total new schools cover a land area of 817,000 square meters — the size of about 110 football fields — and a construction area of 520,000 square meters. All the new schools are required to offer qualified curriculum and campus facilities.

University students will also be getting back to classrooms with the new semester set to begin in the second week of September.

Fudan University has offered more than 31,000 yuan (US$5,046) to 84 freshmen from poor families by covering their transportation to Shanghai. It said it is offering subsidies of more than 500,000 yuan to poor freshmen.