The old proverb rings true "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". The authorities forget this when they introduce their regulations and legislation which are often a knee-jerk reaction to a perceived problem. I really wish they would leave people alone, Governments should not be seen and seldom heard!
In this case the problem is of their own creation: the high school entrance test mentioned in the article in combination with their failure to make the vocational track sufficiently attractive.
Just going on your information "Millions of people lost their jobs", "Many companies were destroyed or decimated" "Rates have skyrocketed". That sounds like a reduction in tutoring.
Keep in mind that there are at least two drivers here: Driver #1 is the general East Asian high preference for education over other expenditures of time and money. Driver #2 is the country-specific educational system with its country-specific tests and practices.
Driver #1 results in extremely vigorous competition for the prestigious slots in society available each year, with the resources devoted to this competition rising in line with general rising levels of wealth. Japan, Taiwan and Korea all have the same phenomenon, with these cram schools (补习班) to an extent evolving into a kind of alternative parallel education system. It's hard to see how any edict can change this.
Driver #2 is certainly an area where improvement is achievable, but meaningful improvement is far more likely to come from trying 100 different approaches at once, for example by letting each city and county come up with its own policy, rather than by rolling out centrally planned reforms nationwide. Encouraging policy competition between cities and regions was after all one of the key principles which led to China’s explosion in prosperity over the course of the past 30 years. We can also guess that giving a LARGER role to innovative private sector educators rather banning them would be likely to lead to better results.
No doubt some kids are now priced out of the market. Given that the industry is now illegal, it’s hard to estimate how many. For many of these however, parents will be forced to fill the gap. This was already going on before the ban, but with the increased prices the percentage of parents filling their spare hours with tutoring can only increase. As for the kids whose parents can't do this, we can guess that for most it is not a source of happiness. Being unable to keep up in school is considered shameful and embarrassing. More bans and guidelines promulgated by Beijing seem unlikely to change that.
Thanks for your reply! It reads like you feel kids would do better with legal tutoring. I think even a good thing like education can be taken too far. After a certain point additional investment results in decreasing marginal returns. Asia sounds like it has gone a bit past this point :)
The strangest aspect is the parents. They were once young themselves. They remember how they hated school and how they would resent having to study even after school ended. Why do they inflict this on their own children?
The Austrian position is that parents rather than government should make that assessment. The best solutions are found by letting the market offer, and the parents try out, multiple approaches. There are of course private schools in China, and for that matter, homeschooling is also completely legal. Sending your kids to public schools is at least in theory a choice. But there are financial considerations, and ultimately students attending private schools also have to participate in the same tests if they want to attend the top domestic universities. Schools offer social life, day care, something to do and a clear path forward in life; I would guess most parents and kids can't imagine any alternative.
seems the government wants to have more "losers" - maybe there are too many heaters that need fixing. i never understood why chinese schools need to impart such a mountain of information on poor school children who must give up their entire childhood for this task - anyone analyzed what kinds of information they are drilling into these little minds?
The list is apparently VERY long. Perhaps the question ought to be: What can the government do to increase the prestige of the vocational school track and make parents actually want to choose it for their kids?
in addition - it does not seem to me to be a general chinese parental trait to let their child find a path and support them on the journey THEY chose - i could be mistaken but controlling your childrens future seems to be a national standard (Tiger Mom)
One way to make it more attractive would be to do a better job at copying the German system. Specifically, (1) make sure that all kids following the vocational track are offered part-time apprenticeships with real work and pay at a choice of companies instead of sitting around in schools every day, and (2) make sure it’s possible for these kids to switch back to the academic track and attend university.
i suspect german parents are more realistic than chinese parents, they can't all be #1 - except in america where all kids get a trophy just for showing up.
That could be. But one reason for that is because German parents themselves grew up knowing that the vocational track could also be a track to success, with many top managers and entrepreneurs having started their careers this way. It will take time to create a similar awareness in China. Nonetheless, offering kids a way of getting a real job with pay instead of sitting around the whole day learning trigonometry is surely going to be attractive to some parents dealing with frustrated kids.
seems odd to me considering chinas recent history in the last 40 years from starving to booming in the blink of an eye you would think the chinese parents would have more of a balanced view - they ain't starving anymore - that should tell them that most any job is better than no job, and supporting your kids in whatever choices they make rather than pressuring them seems like the best way to have a happy family
The old proverb rings true "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". The authorities forget this when they introduce their regulations and legislation which are often a knee-jerk reaction to a perceived problem. I really wish they would leave people alone, Governments should not be seen and seldom heard!
Alas!
In this case the problem is of their own creation: the high school entrance test mentioned in the article in combination with their failure to make the vocational track sufficiently attractive.
Discouraging people from sacrificing their children's youth to excess study seems like a praiseworthy initiative? Sounds like they succeeded too.
How so?
Just going on your information "Millions of people lost their jobs", "Many companies were destroyed or decimated" "Rates have skyrocketed". That sounds like a reduction in tutoring.
Keep in mind that there are at least two drivers here: Driver #1 is the general East Asian high preference for education over other expenditures of time and money. Driver #2 is the country-specific educational system with its country-specific tests and practices.
Driver #1 results in extremely vigorous competition for the prestigious slots in society available each year, with the resources devoted to this competition rising in line with general rising levels of wealth. Japan, Taiwan and Korea all have the same phenomenon, with these cram schools (补习班) to an extent evolving into a kind of alternative parallel education system. It's hard to see how any edict can change this.
Driver #2 is certainly an area where improvement is achievable, but meaningful improvement is far more likely to come from trying 100 different approaches at once, for example by letting each city and county come up with its own policy, rather than by rolling out centrally planned reforms nationwide. Encouraging policy competition between cities and regions was after all one of the key principles which led to China’s explosion in prosperity over the course of the past 30 years. We can also guess that giving a LARGER role to innovative private sector educators rather banning them would be likely to lead to better results.
No doubt some kids are now priced out of the market. Given that the industry is now illegal, it’s hard to estimate how many. For many of these however, parents will be forced to fill the gap. This was already going on before the ban, but with the increased prices the percentage of parents filling their spare hours with tutoring can only increase. As for the kids whose parents can't do this, we can guess that for most it is not a source of happiness. Being unable to keep up in school is considered shameful and embarrassing. More bans and guidelines promulgated by Beijing seem unlikely to change that.
Thanks for your reply! It reads like you feel kids would do better with legal tutoring. I think even a good thing like education can be taken too far. After a certain point additional investment results in decreasing marginal returns. Asia sounds like it has gone a bit past this point :)
The strangest aspect is the parents. They were once young themselves. They remember how they hated school and how they would resent having to study even after school ended. Why do they inflict this on their own children?
The Austrian position is that parents rather than government should make that assessment. The best solutions are found by letting the market offer, and the parents try out, multiple approaches. There are of course private schools in China, and for that matter, homeschooling is also completely legal. Sending your kids to public schools is at least in theory a choice. But there are financial considerations, and ultimately students attending private schools also have to participate in the same tests if they want to attend the top domestic universities. Schools offer social life, day care, something to do and a clear path forward in life; I would guess most parents and kids can't imagine any alternative.
seems the government wants to have more "losers" - maybe there are too many heaters that need fixing. i never understood why chinese schools need to impart such a mountain of information on poor school children who must give up their entire childhood for this task - anyone analyzed what kinds of information they are drilling into these little minds?
The list is apparently VERY long. Perhaps the question ought to be: What can the government do to increase the prestige of the vocational school track and make parents actually want to choose it for their kids?
i think convincing any parent that HVAC work is as good as being a doctor is as likely to work as lipstick on a pic improving it's appearance.
in addition - it does not seem to me to be a general chinese parental trait to let their child find a path and support them on the journey THEY chose - i could be mistaken but controlling your childrens future seems to be a national standard (Tiger Mom)
One way to make it more attractive would be to do a better job at copying the German system. Specifically, (1) make sure that all kids following the vocational track are offered part-time apprenticeships with real work and pay at a choice of companies instead of sitting around in schools every day, and (2) make sure it’s possible for these kids to switch back to the academic track and attend university.
i suspect german parents are more realistic than chinese parents, they can't all be #1 - except in america where all kids get a trophy just for showing up.
That could be. But one reason for that is because German parents themselves grew up knowing that the vocational track could also be a track to success, with many top managers and entrepreneurs having started their careers this way. It will take time to create a similar awareness in China. Nonetheless, offering kids a way of getting a real job with pay instead of sitting around the whole day learning trigonometry is surely going to be attractive to some parents dealing with frustrated kids.
seems odd to me considering chinas recent history in the last 40 years from starving to booming in the blink of an eye you would think the chinese parents would have more of a balanced view - they ain't starving anymore - that should tell them that most any job is better than no job, and supporting your kids in whatever choices they make rather than pressuring them seems like the best way to have a happy family