Has China's Private Tuition Ban Passed The Stress Test? | Undercover Asia

To score well in China’s school entrance exams, it used to mean attending hours of tuition on top of school. Classes were cheap and ubiquitous, until two years ago.

In July 2021, China banned after-school tutoring, killing a $100 billion industry overnight. It would have been a worthy tradeoff, if kids could have a carefree childhood. But tuition never went away.

Tuition has now gone underground, and students continue to struggle in a never-ending rat race. Now, only those with time and money can get extra academic help. Is the Double Reduction Policy backfiring?

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[ava]

Actually stress is not mainly caused by private tuition but the education system. Private tuition exists to support students to survive the highly competitive environment.

[elliewang]

And no one talks about the 2-year-old girl @ 26:00 left by her Mum to stay over night with a guy who's basically a stranger to the girl just to practice English???? Holy molly!!!! Isn't that how most child molestation and rape happen???? Isn't that exactly a situation all parents should avoid??? Crazy parents!!!

[HarryDK]

I'm from Vietnam. The tension wasn't that bad back in the 90s early 00s but I studied 14-16 hours per day, 6-7 days per week. Many useless stuff (at least for me), and after 12 years of agonizing, I forgot most of it :(. Always think about it and ask why would we waste 12 years of our best time in life for stress. Education is important, but I truly wish Asian study culture can be reformed and changed for the better

[AVMAV]

44:01 poor kid. She didn't have to be scolded in front of the world like that. You can tell that she didn't expect that scolding from her mother. I hope that she manages to reach whatever educational goal that she pursues

[prickleecactus]

That mum who sent her kids (even her toddler!) to live with a random English speaking stranger has issues. She needs her head checked. How does she know he is safe??

[ninghuisee]

Lots of solutions are suggested in the comments but it will take a large-scale structural change from early childhood education to working adults to reshape society, especially one as large as China. To be honest these issues exist in most countries, but culturally there's a lot more anxiety in East Asia for parents to provide a better future for their children. If the govt only bans the tuition industry to make it look like they are doing something, the black market ends up costing more than when tuition was legal, over time this will just divide the rich and poor even further.

Students are placed into different educational tiers at 15, once somebody gets put into a 'lower' tier, that's it for them, apparently they have lost their only chance at a better life. There's a stigma against those who go to vocational schools because they couldn't make it into the 'standard' high schools and end up making less per month. This is inevitable in all countries as they develop, it is not specific to China at all. Prioritisation of more diverse industries will help raise the salaries and social status of those who do 'vocational' jobs (compared to corporate jobs). The system needs to provide tracks for late bloomers to progress. Unis and employers should also accept and support those who have worked for a while and now want to return to education at an older age, so it is possible for them to elevate themselves. Part-time degrees, night classes, online degrees ... these can help.

The public vs private sch comparison raises the question of whether there is enough govt expenditure on education, and whether teachers receive adequate training before starting work. This is just my speculation based on what I have seen in the west, but if you pay your public school teachers poorly and/or overwork them, or if class sizes are too big for teachers to pay attention to each student, you won't be getting quality education. The best teachers should be employed by the state to level the playing field, not become private tutors.

[lmichelle]

Tutor for $440 a hour?! That’s a ridiculous amount! A specialist doctor in Australia charges less than that.

[UltimacraftedArmy]

Not surprised that parents still want to send children to tuition, even if they are legally banned. Perhaps the policy had good intentions but the underlying culture of competition is still there.

[annaukolina]

Extra classes are banned, but instead they just lock poor teenagers at school till 9 pm. The reason behind double reduction was to give children more free time and reduce homework. Now I can see quite the contrary

[anonviewerciv]

Regulating the provision of learning. 📖⚖(14:04, 41:00)
3:45 Historical and contemporary valuation of education. 📝
9:39 Educational streams. 🔀
20:00 Going underground. 😎

[Joe-eyjh]

If a restaurant waiter in China also can buy an apartment, if house price is more affordable in China, I think the parents would not be so stressful about the children's education about the children's future.

[zot]

😅I've studied at one of the best universities in the world, I have friends who are professors or deans at some of the top universities in the world, multimillionaires & CEOs. I never heard anyone saying that tuition classes help them to be where they are now. in fact, in most cases.... it's the opposite. Success in life is not a competition. you become successful by making your own way, not by defeating others in it. This whole competition culture in China where you have to defeat others is scary and unhealthy.

[jackzhou]

It's the kind of mother in the video who creates learning anxiety. If every parent is like her, the future of this country is over.When every child has achieved an improvement in grades through tutoring, it means that there is still no improvement, because everyone is still the same, and it is not because that child’s grades have improved that he is better than other children, and it is still the same when he enters social work in the future. To compete with other young people for the few high-quality jobs.

[MrNikkovl]

I think the better idea is to modify the gakao and zhongkao, as long as children are rated based on their academic achievements, private tutor would never disappear.

[hikashia.halfiah]

Hiding only the teacher's face is still pretty irresponsible. With all the surveillance camera powered with AI in China, even children face could plausibly be stored somewhere. That would link it to particular location, and from that government could sniff where this private lesson is happening. CNA should do more due diligence on situation in the field.

[rollingdownfalling]

There is always this saying in Chinese, which is:「道高一尺，魔高一丈」.

[ckokloong]

Better change university entry requirement to include other criteria which is outside school curriculum. For example, music, dancing, cooking, coding, YTubing, volunteering etc. If the only criteria for university is gaokao score, illegal tuition will continue.

[joshuabarrios]

One way to solve all this mess is for public schools to have better teachers and to hold after school tuition classes.
And regarding Vocational Schools, they should also improve teaching standards to be in part with those of Universities.

[gdew]

Not illegal but in some Western countries, parents make sure they live in a specific aea to have access to high performing public & charter schools, others send their kids to private schools and avoid public schools and the rest make sure their kids attend Kumon, Huntington and similar places for extra schoolwork.

[jennifervaughn]

I’m in America and these parents remind me of my grandparents. My grandpa was only able to go to the eighth grade because he had to get a job to help support the family. So he was always encouraging us in school and encouraging us to go on to college and make some thing of our self