Has China declared a truce in its struggle with private tutoring firms?

After a 2021 crackdown on China’s private tutoring sent shock waves through the industry, sustained demand may have led to policy turnaround

Reading Time:4 minutes

China’s private tutoring companies, including TAL Education Group, saw near-deadly drops in value after the 2021 crackdown on for-profit education. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 8:00pm, 7 Aug 2024

If, for whatever reason, a person found themselves at the right place – an almost empty commercial building in central Shanghai – and at the right time, they could make out a sound quite unsuited to the premises. With the dinner hour close at hand, the unmistakable noise of children’s laughter would be emanating through the otherwise barren halls, as a gaggle of youngsters waited to be taken home.

Though no conspicuous signage or advertising could be found designating it such, this was the scene following a recent class day at a private educational facility – the sort of institution thought only a few years ago to be an endangered species, gasping its last as it walked the long, hard road to extinction.

But such bleak imagery would be lost on Song, the school’s receptionist, as she fielded calls from parents eager to find open slots for their children. “Summer classes are full. But you can take a look at our autumn curriculum.”

Three years have passed since the Chinese government enacted its “double reduction” policy, which mandated cutbacks in students’ homework burden and banned for-profit extracurricular tutoring on weekends and holidays. In that time, a market for these services emerged under the regulatory radar – and looks to be expanding further this summer, as demand from parents has remained high and the policy environment has softened.

A recent directive by the State Council, China’s cabinet, on promoting the services industry offered even more hope. It included a section encouraging spending on education and training, the first piece of supportive rhetoric from a central government document since the sweeping clampdown was launched in the summer of 2021.

The directive – issued on Saturday as part of Beijing’s efforts to bolster the country’s economy – covered educational services for all age groups and stressed that support would only be offered to non-profit classes on non-compulsory subjects for primary and middle school students, a functional reiteration of language found in the 2021 order. But to many parents and institutions, it sent a signal.