10,000 ‘Olympic Babies’ Strain the Beijing System
“奥运宝宝”今年入学，北京小学压力大

“Olympic Babies are Coming,” read a headline in Beijing News on Wednesday. With about 10,000 more children than usual born in Beijing in 2008, a year considered by many to be lucky both for the number eight and for being the year that China hosted the Olympic Games, the state is scrambling to find enough school spaces for 6-year-olds as they head to first grade this fall.

《新京报》周三发表了一篇题为“奥运宝宝扎堆”的文章。2008年，北京比正常年份多生了约1万个婴儿，很多人认为那年吉祥，不仅因为年份中有数字8，还因为中国在那年主办了奥运会。现在，国家正设法为这些即将在今秋入学的6岁孩子找到足够多的教室。

And in a sign that the state is listening to widespread dissatisfaction among parents about corruption in the education system amid an anti-corruption campaign by President Xi Jinping, schools are introducing a range of measures aimed at reducing opportunities for graft. These include instructing parents themselves to buy accident insurance for their children before the child can begin school. Previously, schools did this and charged the parents.

中国正处在国家主席习近平的反腐败运动中，有迹象表明，政府在听取家长对教育系统内部腐败广泛不满的意见，学校开始引入一系列措施，旨在减少贿赂。措施之一是，指导家长在孩子入学前，自己为孩子购买意外事故保险。过去，这项保险由学校购买，然后向家长收钱。

“We are not allowed to accept fees,” said an administrator from a state elementary school on Wednesday, explaining the new policy, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid drawing attention at her school.

一家公立小学的行政人员周三在解释这一新政策时说，“我们不能收费。”她要求不具名，以免引起外界对她所在学校的注意。

Being an “Olympic Baby” is perhaps less than lucky for the children than the parents had hoped, with the crush suggesting strained resources due to increased competition among peers that may dog them through their lives — in education, job hunting and even medical care. Eight is a lucky number in China, and many people may time the birth of children to a year they consider auspicious. Having a child in the Year of the Dragon is also popular (that was in 2012).

“奥运宝宝”可能并不像他们父母所期望的那样有好运，扎堆出生意味着他们面临与同龄人在教育、就业，甚至医疗上更激烈的竞争和更大的资源压力，这种竞争可能会伴随他们一辈子。“八”在中国是一个吉祥数字，很多人也许把生孩子的时间选在他们认为吉祥的年份。比如，有很多人在龙年（2012年）生孩子。

“This year 176,000 students will begin school, about 10,000 more than last year,” Beijing News reported, saying that the figure was disclosed on Tuesday by the head of the city’s education commission, Xian Lianping, on the Beijing City Radio program “City Folk Talk to the Chief.”

《新京报》报道称，北京市教委主任线联平周二在“市民对话一把手”节目中透露，“今年小学生入学人数将达17.6万人，比去年增加一万人左右。”

Education is a sensitive issue in China, where parents value it highly, but the system is riddled with corruption. It is not unusual for parents to have to offer a bribe of between 50,000 and 300,000 renminbi, or about $8,000 to $48,000, to secure their child a place in a good school, and competition for places in top schools is fierce.

在中国，教育是个敏感问题，家长十分重视教育，但教育系统腐败丛生。家长为让孩子进一所好学校，花5万到30万元人民币行贿并不罕见，而顶级学校入学名额的竞争十分激烈。

Mr. Xian said the state had anticipated the baby boom and was well equipped to deal with it, having built new elementary schools through a program that began in 2012. China requires nine years of compulsory education, usually from ages 6 to 15, a policy that has been successful in producing a largely literate population.

线联平说，国家对这个婴儿潮有所预料，已做好了应对的准备，通过2012年开始的一个项目，已经修建了多所小学。中国为学生提供九年义务教育，通常在学生年龄为6到15岁这个阶段，这项政策成功地让大部分中国人脱盲。

Mr. Xian said the authorities would carefully monitor each student’s application and the entry process, and “restrict the power of school heads in admissions” in a nod to widespread complaints by parents about corruption.

线联平说，当局会仔细监督每个学生的申请入学过程，“限制校长手中的招生权。”这个说法针对的是家长普遍反映的腐败问题。

The other reason for the surge in students is Beijing’s ever-growing population, Mr. Xian said. The city is now home to more than 21 million people, according to Xinhua, the state news agency, and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics.

线联平说，学生人数激增的另一个原因是北京不断增加的人口。国家通讯社新华社和北京市统计局的数字显示，北京现有人口2100万人。

In 2009, according to Beijing News, there were 100,000 children starting elementary school, compared with 176,000 this year.

据《新京报》报道，2009年的小学新生人数是10万人，而今年将达到17.6万人。

The government recently announced a string of measures aimed at increasing fairness in school entrance procedures, including removing some privileges accorded to parents who work in state-owned enterprises and government officials, according to reports in the Chinese news media.