[Correspondent Diary] China Bans Private Education, Implements Direct Online Private Tutoring

Introduction of Free Online Learning Program for 330,000 Middle School Students in Beijing
Private Education Blamed for Declining Birth Rates and Rising Housing Prices... Learning Achievement and Other Outcomes Uncertain

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] The Chinese authorities, who have virtually banned private education, are directly implementing online private education.

The Chinese authorities banned profit-driven private education for academic subjects in the compulsory education (elementary and middle school) curriculum last July, citing that private education costs make life difficult for China's 1.4 billion people. The Chinese authorities believe that private education expenses lower the birth rate.

Photo by Global Times Capture

They also consider misguided educational enthusiasm as a cause of rising housing prices. 'Xuequfang (學區房)' is a representative example. Houses (including monthly rent) located within so-called school district zones are astonishingly expensive.

Along with this, there is an intention to break the vicious cycle where parents' economic power (wealth gap) is inherited through education. The Chinese leadership expects that education equality can restore the ladder between social classes. The Chinese authorities' ban on private education and the introduction of free open online learning programs are closely related to President Xi Jinping's 'Common Prosperity' (a kind of utopia where all people live well and prosper).

Beijing's education authorities will implement a free open online learning program for 330,000 middle school students starting January 1 next year. The subjects include Chinese (Mandarin), Mathematics, English, Physics, Chemistry, History, and six others, totaling nine subjects. The program runs three hours daily (from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.) Monday through Friday. It is a kind of after-school class.

Regarding criticisms that the free open online learning program is 'education outside school' or 'supplementary lessons,' Beijing's education authorities draw a clear line. They emphasize that it is a specialized and differentiated education program for middle school students and a program to enhance the efficiency of basic public education.

They also plan to prevent any distortion of the program's purpose during its implementation. For example, Beijing's education authorities stated that they will ensure that schools and teachers do not intentionally induce students to focus excessively on the open online learning program. Parents will also be granted supervisory and evaluative rights over the learning program. Additionally, they plan to strengthen monitoring using technologies such as big data analysis to ensure the online program does not deviate from its original purpose.

The Chinese authorities expect positive effects from this free open online learning program in terms of alleviating parents' private education expenses and providing equal educational services.

However, considerable questions have been raised regarding students' satisfaction and achievement levels. This is because online classes inevitably have a uniform structure, and individual students' learning acquisition levels naturally vary.

Nonetheless, the Chinese authorities emphasize that normalizing public education and minimizing parents' burdens from private education costs are priorities. They are determined to firmly prevent private education costs from increasing parents' economic burdens. Therefore, starting with Beijing, the free open online learning program is expected to spread to various provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions across China.

Since we also face unresolved issues such as private education costs, housing prices, and equal educational opportunities (although our social system differs), there is inevitable interest in what results this measure by the Chinese authorities will bring.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.