China education: Beijing moves to ban tuition apps targeting preschoolers under crackdown on after-school tutoring
- The ban will prevent kids as young as 3 from learning Chinese, English, maths and other skills via online apps
- In July last year, the Ministry of Education issued a series of tough rules to reduce the burden of excessive homework and off-campus tutoring
The new ban will stop those as young as three years old from learning Chinese, English, maths and other skills via online apps, a common phenomenon in China as anxious parents endeavour to make their kids more competitive while still in kindergarten, according to a draft plan issued by the Beijing Municipal Education Commission on Wednesday.
The plan, which focuses on the regulation of education apps for children and is open for public comment until February 22, also requires online tutoring operators targeting primary and middle school students to register with the Beijing city government as non-profit organisations, as already required by the central government.
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In July last year, the Ministry of Education issued a series of tough rules to reduce the burden of excessive homework and off-campus tutoring for young students, as well as kindergarteners aged between three and five years old.
Xiong Bingqi, head of the Beijing-based 21st Century Education Research Centre, said although the latest education app ban for preschoolers was a city-level order at the moment, it’s set to be copied elsewhere in China as many believe learning from online is doing more harm than good for children at this age.
“Too much screen time is threatening their eyesight. Currently, the myopia rate among preschool kids in our country is already 20 per cent,” he warned.
Chinese parents are hanging on to after-school tutoring amid crackdown
“To make them learn maths and Chinese at such an early age is also against learning regularity. It’s pulling up rice shoots to help them grow,” he said, referring to a Chinese proverb describing to ruin something due to ignorance of the laws of nature.
Instead, parents should focus on their exercise, personal hygiene, interpersonal communication and so on, he said.
“Currently too many parents are just too eager for quick success. They should have a long-term vision for their children’s education,” he said.
Despite the clampdown, many kindergarteners are still learning subjects supposed to be taught at primary school as some tutoring centres survive in the grey area.
Linda Li, a mother of a five-year-old boy in Shanghai, sent her son to an English learning institution a few months ago, which used to be regarded as a tutoring school but is now marketed as a hobby group that helps kids read English language picture books.
“It’s better to learn in advance, to get prepared earlier. I don’t want him to fall behind others at school. I think there will always be a way [to cope with the policies] when there is demand,” she said.
