China’s middle class families fret as President Xi Jinping ‘tightens grip’ on international schools

International schools in China are under increasing pressure to adopt state-approved curricula, forcing some to withdraw from the country altogether and stoking unease among middle-class families who want their children exposed to Western education.

Last week, Harrow International School in Hainan, a prestigious British private institution, notified parents that students must be taught a Chinese curriculum from grade one to grade nine, and junior high school students must pass a state-run test to graduate.