An alley in central Beijing has hit headlines in the past few days after an 11-square meter bungalow sold for 5.3 million yuan ($814,600) just because it is close to a top primary school. Photo: CFP

 "Do not let your children lose at the starting line" is something Chinese parents often say when talking about their children's education, in a country where getting places at top schools is hyper-competitive.

In the wake of the country's introduction of the "school district" system in recent years, in which children are enrolled in schools near their homes, anxious Chinese parents have tried to snap up apartments near schools with good reputations.

Known as "school-district housing," this phenomenon triggered debate after an 11-square meter house in a central Beijing hutong near a good school was recently sold for 460,000 yuan ($70,610) per square meter.

In February, the average price of a house - excluding newly built homes - in Beijing was 41,586 yuan per square meter, according to Beijing-based newspaper The Mirror.

Located near Beijing No.2 Experimental Primary School, one of the capital's best-known primary schools, the 11.4-square-meter bungalow cost a total of 5.3 million yuan, China National Radio reported on Thursday. 

Sky-high prices

"It is meaningless [to buy a school-district house at such a high price]," Yi Xianrong, an outspoken real estate agent, told the Global Times, adding that government policies directly led to this phenomenon.

"Generally, the price of houses in good school districts is about 20 to 30 percent higher than the average housing price," Zhang Dawei, chief analyst at Beijing-based Centaline Property Research Center, told the Global Times.

The prices of houses in desirable school districts are less affected by changes in the real estate market, as people attach great importance to education, said a real estate agent surnamed Wang.

"Most school-district housing buyers are second-time homebuyers. They sold their houses or apartments in the suburbs and moved back to the city for their children," Wang told the Global Times.

Each year, he sees potential buyers looking for school-district houses before May, "because the online registration of primary school-age children, a necessary step before official enrollment that has been required since 2014, starts on May 1," Wang continued.

"Parents try to complete the household registration process for their new address before that time."

"Many bought school-district houses and completed the household registration process three years before their children reach school age," Wang said, noting that some schools require children to have lived in the school district for a certain amount of time.

Many worry the high price of school-district housing makes quality educational resources harder to access for lower-income families.

School-district housing forms a "privilege" for the rich and puts a heavy economic burdens on common families, Yu Minhong, a national political advisor and chairman of the NYSE-listed New Oriental Education and Technology Group Inc, was quoted by the Beijing Youth Daily as saying.

 "As a result, many feel that the society lacks equality, and murmur discontent," Yu added.

Break the link

In order to end the battle for places at famous schools, the relevant authorities have been pushing forward education reforms, including requiring popular schools to set up branches in different districts.

In 2014, Beijing No.2 Experimental Primary School merged with another two schools and established four new branches, according to its official website.

The move failed to stop the soaring prices near the school, as "the school still enrolls students by itself," the agent said.

On Thursday, China's Education Minister Yuan Guiren told media that the fundamental solution to this problem is education reform, especially creating a more balanced system of compulsory education.

In February, the education ministry started trialing a multiple-school-district system in Beijing in which children are randomly enrolled in one of several nearby schools, to weaken the link between buying property and places at top schools.

Besides the government equalizing access to educational resources, parents should not just focus on getting their children into top schools, Xie Zuoxu, a professor of education at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Xie explained that "if the strong competition at the top schools exhausts children and they could not find favor in the eyes of parents and teachers, they would have a sense of frustration."