The shortage is mainly due to a growing number of young professionals seeking a housekeeper - or 'ayi' as they are known in Chinese - that can not only cook and clean, but also help the kids with their homework.

"It is easy to find an 'ayi' who can clean and cook, but we desire more of an 'ayi'," said Ye Li, a 34-year-old consultant.

"We hope to have one with a good education who can take better care of our child," she said. Ye and her husband, a software programmer, have a 7-year-old daughter but they are often too busy to check her homework and attend school functions - functions they wouldn't trust to a poorly educated maid from China's rural provinces.

Ye's family is not alone. With more local youngsters living away from their parents - giving up free babysitting for a little more independence - and earning a good living, more couples are choosing to have housekeepers taking care of their family chores and the upbringing of their children.

Finding a qualified housekeeper at a reasonable price, however, is rather difficult if not impossible for many.

Some 200 people visit the Shanghai Ejll Home Economics Service Co., Ltd, a recruitment and training agency for domestic helpers, every month in search of a well-educated, professional housekeeper. But only half those people find what they are looking for.

Ejll, along with several other companies in town, is now offering 'ayi' training courses, to meet growing demand for better housekeepers.

The Shanghai Female Vocation Training Center, for instance, launched a training course for senior housekeepers in August. The five-month course, which costs 1,400 yuan, includes training in English, computer skills, nutrition and psychology.

"The preliminary or middle level training programs focus more on practical skills in home chores such as cooking, while the high level courses are more academically orientated," said Huang Zhixian with the center.

Forty people, mostly laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises, have registered and studied under the program.

Almost all have been hired by domestic service companies, according to the center.

Even the training courses are having trouble finding skilled applicants, as college educated locals don't want to work as housekeepers, unlike some college graduates from outlying provinces.

With this in mind, Ejll has decided to "import" 30 professional housekeepers from Sichuan Province this year and several from the Philippines next year - although it will take some creativity to get work permits and visas for foreign housekeepers.

"In Sichuan, those with a college education are willing to be engaged in housekeeping services. But in Shanghai, it's very hard to find young people with decent education willing to do so," said Xia Jun of Shanghai Ejll.

(eastday.com November 27, 2002)