After-school Classes Scrutinized

Shortly after the traditional Chinese New Year in February 2021, the Ministry of Education announced at a press conference that it would scrutinize after-school classes to ease the burdens of students and parents. The authorities said that some after-school training institutions sought nothing but profits which has seriously affected mainstream education. According to statistics from the Chinese Society of Education, over 137 million primary and secondary school students attended after-school tutoring institutions in 2016, creating a total market value of over 800 billion yuan (US$122B). There is a lack of official supervision of after-school curriculums and it is time to raise the threshold of training institutions and release detailed regulations about the content of their programs.