New law clarifies responsibilities of guardians for kids’ development

On Saturday, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passed The Family Education Promotion Law, which clearly states that the parents or other guardians of juveniles bear the responsibility of giving them family education, while the State and the society must render support to them.

The Education Law came into effect in 1995, after which there came laws on higher education, compulsory education, and the participation of private capital in education. But for a long time the role of the family in education was defined only by the Law on the Protection of Minors.

Now, with a specific law on family education introduced, the responsibilities of children’s guardians are more clearly defined. For example, the judiciary has a sounder legal basis to intervene in instances where guardians injure children by physically punishing them.

The new law has also clearly defined the responsibility the guardians bear for juveniles involved in illegal activities, even crimes. It strengthens guidance for guardians to fulfill their family education responsibilities. In other words, those juveniles committing illegal activities and crimes will be punished, while more potential cases will be prevented from happening.

The law has been introduced at a time when policies have been introduced to lower the academic burden on children, and it echoes that policy by asking the parents and other guardians of juveniles to properly arrange the schedule for the latter so that they can strike a balance between study, play, and sports.

The law aims to reduce the pressures of excessive homework and after-school tutoring on children. For that purpose, governments above county levels are required to take measures to ease such burdens, and the law has clauses that regulate the behavior of family education service agencies. According to these clauses, ordinary family education service agencies must be nonprofit, so as to prevent capital from speculating in the industry.

In a word, the new law will help to regulate family education in China and make it prosper further.