Huang’s observations echoed the findings of a study by a group of Peking University researchers on how the government’s efforts, intended to reduce students’ time burdens and stress levels, worsened educational inequality over a longer period.
Chinese authorities have issued a slew of directives to reduce children’s academic workloads beginning in the 1990s, but the implementation of these policies was only intensified in the past decade, with the 2021 crackdown marking the peak.
Analysing nearly 15,000 families from 25 provinces and municipalities from 2008 to 2018, the Peking University researchers found that children from families in the bottom decile of income were 9.3 per cent less likely to be admitted into a senior high school after the policy change.
In contrast, those from the top decile were 5.3 per cent more likely to gain admission, according to the research paper. The findings were published in the May edition of the China Economic Quarterly.
Disparate outcomes in school enrolment were correlated with vast gulfs in inputs, the Peking University researchers found. For poorer families, educational expenses dropped by 21 per cent and children’s study time fell by over nine hours per week, while for richer ones, expenses rose by 66 per cent and study time grew by more than 10 hours a week.
“It is worth noting that the education model that did not rely on family education and financial expenditure in the past is disappearing,” they wrote in the paper. “Those families that rely more on talent and hard work and thus have low economic investment have to increase financial input after the ‘burden reduction’ policies.”
Pupils in China are entitled to nine years of compulsory education. After completion, they must take a notoriously difficult exam, known as the zhongkao, to be admitted into a senior high school. There, they spend three years before competing for a university spot.
Tan, the mother from Guangdong, said she did manage to find her son an online English tutor earlier this year, as the boy is set to take the zhongkao soon. “But we quit after just a few classes, because it was too expensive for us,” she said.
She said she felt that her limited resources are dragging the boy down as he tries to achieve – he has performed well enough to be enrolled in either of the two high schools in the county, but his dream is to attend a top-ranked institution in a bigger city. “This would be really hard. The competition would be huge,” Tan said.
Shanghai mother Shirley Dai has taken pains to avoid those regrets. With a much higher household income, she has ensured that her 11-year-old daughter always studies ahead of the curriculum and gets additional help off campus, even after the tutoring clampdown.
Her daughter, who is studying at a top private school in downtown Shanghai, has taken extra classes after school every workday with a home tutor since last autumn.
Source: CNA
