China Intensifies Crackdown on Illegal Private Tutoring Ahead of Winter Break

Ministry of Education: "Increased Burden on Students... Strict Prevention of Private Tutoring"
369 Trillion Won Private Education Market Hit Hard by 2021 Shuangzhen Policy

Chinese Examinees Taking the University Entrance Exam 'Gaokao'
[Image Source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Junran] Chinese authorities have launched a crackdown on illegal private tutoring ahead of the winter vacation.

According to local media including China Education Network on the 4th, the Chinese Ministry of Education recently announced in the "Plan for the Development and Regulation of Private Education" that "illegal private tutoring must be firmly prevented during the winter vacation period."

The Ministry of Education has been implementing the "Shuangjian (雙減, reducing homework and tutoring burdens for primary and secondary school students)" policy, which bans private education, since July last year. Ahead of this vacation, they reiterated their commitment to continuously promote the Shuangjian policy, emphasizing that "the parts related to compulsory education will not change."

The Ministry instructed frontline educational institutions to "strictly prevent the increase of students' burdens due to illegal private tutoring" and to "thoroughly enforce the crackdown and management of private tutoring so that primary and secondary school students can have a healthy and meaningful vacation."

They also ordered a focused crackdown on illegal private tutoring conducted secretly in unseen places. By closely investigating commercial buildings and residential areas, they requested strict enforcement against one-on-one tutoring, home tutors disguised as domestic helpers, and covert private tutoring conducted under the name of various camps.

This crackdown also includes online education for preschool children. However, for non-academic subjects such as arts and physical education, class time cannot exceed 3 months or 60 hours, and tuition fees are capped at 5,000 yuan (approximately 920,000 KRW).

Following this government education policy, most private education institutions and academies in China have closed. Especially after the implementation of Shuangjian, the Chinese private education market, which was worth 2 trillion yuan (approximately 369 trillion KRW), has been severely hit.

China's largest academy company, New Oriental, has laid off 60,000 of its total 80,000 employees and closed 1,500 branches nationwide. The remaining instructors are reportedly selling agricultural products through live commerce.

Meanwhile, Chinese authorities emphasize the achievements of the private education ban policy, claiming that educational inequality between the rich and poor has been resolved through the implementation of Shuangjian. However, some argue that a huge underground private education market has formed, intensifying the "rich get richer, poor get poorer" phenomenon in education.

In July last year, the Chinese online English media Sixtone reported that wealthy families with abundant financial resources and connections in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai evade the crackdown by inviting high-priced private tutors to their homes, continuing their children's private education.

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