“Disorderly Development”: Inside China’s New Education Reforms

A typical classroom from a school in Shenzhen, China. (Wikimedia Commons)

China’s State Council made international headlines in July after announcing a policy of “dual alleviation,” which aimed to relieve the educational burden imposed on students by banning private after-school tutoring, among other reforms. The regulations dealt a huge blow to education technology (edtech) companies, whose majority of revenues come from tutoring. Claiming that it is a source of mental stress for students, a financial burden that deters families from bearing more children, and an example of “disorderly development” in the private sector, the Chinese government has cracked down firmly on private tutoring. But China’s recent domestic education reform is creating more problems than it aims to solve. Banning private tutoring has not decreased the demand for it. The policies have simply pushed tutors underground and raised prices. Of the series of recent domestic education reforms, the crackdown on private tutoring has garnered the most media attention, but it is only part of larger societal reforms driven by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s vision for “common prosperity” in China—a future where all citizens become prosperous, not only a few of the super rich. 

Background

China’s teeming demand for education and private tutoring stems from many Chinese parents’ belief that education is key to social mobility and success. Much of one’s educational and career prospects revolve around standardized tests, including the grueling university entrance exam known as the gaokao, which almost unilaterally determines if and where a student goes to university. The after-school tutoring industry has witnessed tremendous growth in the last few years. More than 75 percent of students in primary and secondary school attended after-school tutoring in 2016. In 2019, the Chinese after-school tutoring industry was valued at around $96 billion, making it the world’s largest tutoring market. Just months before the new regulation was introduced, the industry was forecasted to double in value by 2023.

Claiming that the private sector has been “hijacked by capital,” China hopes to reign in the rampant profit-making in the private tutoring industry. Additionally,  there is increasing concern about China’s aging demographics and the slowing birth rate, which leaders believe have been exacerbated by the high demands of child-rearing.

What are China’s new education reforms?

China’s new reforms are part of a greater push to restructure and centralize the Chinese education system. Under the new regulations, private after-school tutoring companies must now register as non-profit organizations, and they are prohibited from raising capital—a huge blow to foreign investment—or going public. Furthermore, to address the issue of student strain, extracurricular tutoring has been prohibited during weekends, public holidays, and vacations, and is completely banned for preschool students younger than the age of six. 

Finally, the reforms banned the teaching of foreign curricula, tightened scrutiny over the import of textbooks, and forbade the hiring of foreign teachers outside of China—all of which will severely impact overseas tutoring companies and startups as well as tighten China’s grip over what is taught in schools. 

What are the effects of these reforms on the private tutoring industry and on Chinese society? 

Though the reforms garnered Western media attention primarily for their impact on foreign investors and educational technology companies, the latest crackdown on domestic tutoring has had widespread repercussions for the education industry and Chinese society as a whole. 

Investors that have always been wary of China’s ability to impose sudden regulatory changes are now keenly aware of the consequences of investing in an industry so strongly determined by domestic government policies. According to a portfolio manager at Nuvest Capital in Singapore, “[Although] the Chinese government has always been more particular on sectors that have widespread social implications, the increasing difficulty for investors and companies is that the boundary seems to be extending … [and] no one knows what might be next.” Domestic and foreign companies with a strong stake in education will need to quickly adapt to the new wave of government crackdowns. 

Despite the administration’s intentions far from lessening student burdens, the crackdown on private tutoring has driven the industry underground, making it harder to regulate, and increased its costs to the ever-rising demand.  To combat what Xi calls a “stubborn disease that is hard to manage,” the Ministry of Education set up a new department to monitor off-campus education provisions and to implement its reforms. Amid the ongoing crackdown, teachers across China are being reported and punished for offering private, paid tutoring sessions. China’s demand for private tutoring has only increased and is therefore forcing parents to turn to the black market for tutoring services. According to one former cram school instructor: “The policy was supposed to reduce the burden on parents, but both parents and students are now under even greater pressure than before.” 

Reports of tutors going to students’ homes in the guise of domestic helpers or repairmen are not uncommon. Prices on the black market are high, with some tutors commanding a fee of at least 3,000 yuan ($465) per hour.

Far from creating a more fair and harmonious society, the reforms are widening educational disparities by raising tutoring costs and making access exclusive. 

Conclusions

The new regulations are not isolated measures. These reforms are part of the CCP’s broader political agenda to crack down on the private sector and technology firms, regain control over the education sector, and spur social changes conducive to its long-term stability such as increased birth rates. 

Ultimately, these reforms fail to address the fundamental social tensions surrounding social mobility and education that drive the demand for private tutoring in the first place. This suggests that while China aims to exercise its will over its citizens, the reality is much more difficult to change. Tightening up one of the country’s fastest-growing sectors could see a reversal of current trends in China’s expansion of the education sector. Challenges in educational access and quality persist, and overemphasis on standardized examinations as a measure of merit needs redress. Domestic education reforms are undoubtedly needed in China, but to some, its recent policies suggest a step back rather than a step forward in that direction.