Some private primary schools in Shanghai prepare strange test questions, like those found in civil servant tests or math competitions, for parents who intend to send their children to these primary schools after they finish kindergarten. Parents are required to report their jobs and also their own parents' jobs, plus their academic qualifications. Once a student enrolls, the parents are required to pay about 30,000 yuan every year, much higher than in public primary schools. Still, parents are rushing to private schools, as these schools provide better-quality education, which can enable their children to get into good junior middle schools.

However, as there are not so many private primary schools in Shanghai, only parents who can pass their tests and afford the schooling fees are likely to win the limited seats. Besides, rich families tend to purchase homes within the districts of excellent public schools, so that their children can still go to relatively good schools if they are not accepted by private schools. Meanwhile, poor families, who can't afford expensive school district homes, can only send their children to ordinary schools. As a result, the gap between the rich and the poor appears when children are very young and is further solidified as they grow up.

Private primary schools only account for 10 percent of Shanghai's primary schools, but they have stirred up anxiety among parents, some of whom have posted their concerns online. Although parents don't know how the curriculum differences between private and public schools will affect their children's future development, still they scramble to get their children into private schools.

This collective anxiety reflects the uneven distribution of education resources, parents' excessive worry and also the utilitarian mentality of the society as a whole. The key is to develop a more stable social environment where people won't need to depend solely on their children's education as a means of insuring against future uncertainty.

(This is an edited excerpt of an article published in China Newsweek on June 19)