On July 24, 2021, the “Opinions on Further Reducing Students’ Homework Burden and Off-campus Training Burden during Compulsory Education” issued by the Central Office and the State Council proposed that students’ excessive homework burden and off-campus training burden, family education expenditure and parents’ corresponding energy The burden has been effectively reduced within one year, the results have been remarkable within three years, and the people’s education satisfaction has been significantly improved.
Has the burden of students’ homework and off-campus training been really reduced in the past year of “double reduction”? What are the feelings, demands and expectations of students, parents and teachers? In the specific implementation, what are the best strategies for the relevant local departments and primary and secondary schools? What changes have been made to exam assessments? This issue of Education Weekly launches a series of reports on “Focus on the Year of ‘Double Reduction'”, let us pay attention together.
【Changes in off-campus training】
Off-campus burden is reduced and quality training is more diverse
Guangming Daily reporter Chen Peng Tang Qianer
With the implementation of the “double reduction” policy, off-campus training institutions have entered the era of “strong supervision”, and children can be relieved from the heavy off-campus burden.
What changes have taken place in off-campus training institutions this year? Is the burden of off-campus training lessened for children? What are the reasons for parents to choose non-disciplinary training? Reporters were investigated.
1. Participate in off-campus subject training, the frequency and intensity are significantly reduced
When the “double reduction” policy first came into effect, Dou Yi, a parent in Beijing, sighed in the circle of friends: “It’s great! I really don’t want to go to the training class!” In her opinion, subject training classes are “always improving” , only suitable for children who have spare capacity for learning, and their own children can complete the homework assigned by the school.
However, not long after, the discussion in the parent group made Dou Yi murmur again, “Is it really possible to do without after-school tutoring?” Art “relieved”.
From clarifying the scope of off-campus training disciplines and non-disciplines in the compulsory education stage, to rectifying the unfair format clauses of off-campus training institutions, and regulating their business behaviors, to carrying out special governance of off-campus training during winter and summer vacations, and strictly investigating invisible mutant behaviors… Reducing off-campus training The burden has been solidly advanced, and various places have launched “timetables” and “route maps”.
He never had any subject training, he only took the class, and after several exams, Dou Yi’s children’s scores improved. In the last final exam, the child got full marks in math and Chinese, and 98 in English. Dou Yi’s heart is “more at ease”.
Children are relieved from heavy out-of-school burdens, have more time and energy to develop personal interests, and parents feel much calmer.
On June 1, primary school students in Liyujiangwan, Zixing City, Hunan Province performed the opera sketch “The Edge in the Cabinet”.Photo by Li Ke/Guangming Pictures
When talking about the “double reduction” effect, Beijing Haidian parent Chen Jing also had a say, “The children’s lives have changed a lot, and they have more time for extracurricular activities.” Chen Jing has two children, the eldest daughter is in the first grade and the youngest son is in the first grade. The younger son has “zero foundation” in his studies. He follows the classroom and focuses his extra-curricular energy on football and basketball training camps. He has never attended any extra-curricular classes, while his sister has already started in the first grade. After the three subjects of language, mathematics and English training, I could not find an exit in the vast “sea of questions”.
In March 2022, the National Education Survey Center of the China Institute of Education and Social Development of Beijing Normal University released the “National “Double Reduction” Effectiveness Survey Report, showing that after the “double reduction”, 83.5% of students did not participate in off-campus subject training, 63.3 % of students did not participate in non-disciplinary training.
On May 13, students from No. 10 Middle School in Xingtai City, Hebei Province participated in a button sewing competition.Xinhua News Agency
Dong Shengzu, director of the Institute of Private Education, Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences, analyzed that after the implementation of the “double reduction” policy, more than 90% of students in compulsory education will receive completely free after-school services in schools, including online services provided by their schools and educational administrative departments. The free Q&A and tutoring activities have greatly replaced the various off-campus paid training activities participated in before the “double reduction”.
“With the reduction of the total number of off-campus training institutions for compulsory education subjects, the regulation of training periods and the regulation of charging prices, the frequency and intensity of primary and secondary school students’ participation in off-campus training has been significantly reduced. Obviously, this has correspondingly made most of the The energy and financial burdens of the parents of students have been reduced to varying degrees.” Dong Shengzu added.
2. Follow the child’s interests and choose quality education after-school tutoring
After the “double reduction”, the reporter has visited Haidian and other areas where off-campus training institutions are concentrated many times, and found that some off-campus training institutions for disciplines have begun to transform into quality education. Disciplinary training institutions that used to be crowded are nowhere to be seen, and non-discipline training is becoming more and more lively.
Recently, the reporter went to Beijing Century Jinyuan Shopping Center, which gathers 30 or 40 non-disciplinary training institutions. The training content is mostly sports, dance, painting and calligraphy, music, and programming.
A staff member of an art training institution went straight to the point and introduced the concept of the course: Unlike traditional training courses, it is not for examinations, but for cultivating children’s aesthetic literacy. “Since the ‘double reduction’, the number of children and parents who come to consult and apply for classes has increased significantly. Parents are not as ‘chicken babies’ as they used to be, and they have begun to turn to art training.”
On July 18, at the Youth Activity Center of Fanchang District, Wuhu City, Anhui Province, children learn extracurricular knowledge in the second classroom.Photo by Xiao Benxiang / Bright Pictures
Not far away, a girl who was doing skateboarding training attracted the attention of reporters. The parents on the side introduced that the child is 10 years old this year. When asked why the child was enrolled in the class, the parent said: “The child is interested and signed up, without thinking too much.”
It is a big change for parents and children to follow children’s interests and choose after-school tutoring for quality education instead of diving into the sea of questions and constantly reviewing questions.
From another point of view, the “false fire” in the training market has been greatly cooled, advertising has basically disappeared, capital has been withdrawn substantially, and the phenomenon of “barbaric growth” has been effectively curbed. According to data from the Ministry of Education, as of February 2022, the original 124,000 offline subject training institutions in the compulsory education stage had been reduced to 9,728, with a reduction rate of 92.14%, and the original 263 online and off-campus training institutions had been reduced to 34, with a reduction rate of 87.07%, and the completion rate of “business-to-non-business” and “revision review” reached 100%; pre-charge supervision has basically achieved full coverage, with a total supervision of more than 13 billion yuan; all provinces have issued government-guided price standards , the average fee has dropped by more than 40% compared with that before the introduction; 25 listed companies have completed the clean-up and rectification, and no longer engage in subject training at the compulsory education stage.
“After a period of heavy-handed governance, all kinds of training advertisements were basically banned, and a large number of venture capitals withdrew from the training industry. Moreover, various training institutions have cooperated in terms of venue safety, teacher qualifications, fee collection and refund, capital account and training content. The regulation has been greatly improved, the market order of the off-campus training industry in disciplines has been comprehensively rectified, and the ecological environment inside and outside the school is being gradually restored and reshaped in the basic education stage.” Dong Shengzu said.
3. From the bright side to the dark side, the invisible training governance must be continuously strengthened
After the “double reduction”, most off-campus training institutions have adjusted their business, but some people have had crooked thoughts.
Li Yan’s child is about to be in the second grade, and she only found out the class registration information “with great difficulty”. After much tossing, Li Yancai “snatched” a place in this English class. The training was conducted online, and the content was similar to the previous English training. “However, in order to avoid punishment, the staff kept reminding parents that they are not in class, but ‘breaking through’. Don’t call them teachers, they are team leaders, and parents are sparring partners.”
In addition, Li Yan’s parent group also has information about “one-to-one” and class saving from time to time. “One-to-one tutoring is expensive, and a class may exceed 1,000 yuan.” Li Yan was a little worried, “My own children stop Brush the question, if other people continue to brush, won’t their own children be left behind?”
Dong Shengzu analyzed that due to the inertial effect of traditional cultural concepts and old test-taking thinking, especially in some areas, the reform of education evaluation and admissions examinations has not been vigorously promoted, and the quality of after-school services in some schools in the compulsory education stage is uneven. Primary and secondary school students and their parents feel that their “rigid needs” in after-school tutoring have not been well met. Driven by this, for a period of time, various invisible mutant off-campus training activities have been on the rise in some areas, and there have been anomie phenomena such as delaying private tutors, crowdfunding “saving lessons” and even recruiting live-in tutors. Not only that, there are also some off-campus training institutions that practice discipline training in the name of quality training, and conduct discipline training activities in violation of regulations.
On April 6th, at the water sports training base of Lake Haitang Park in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, primary school students are learning and training special sports competition courses such as rowing and kayaking.Time Complementary Photo/Bright Pictures
At the press conference of the Ministry of Education, the head of the Ministry of Education’s off-campus education and training supervision department emphasized that the “double reduction” work is a long-term, complex and systematic project. Liaison and coordination with relevant departments will be strengthened, various methods and methods will be used in a coordinated manner, and the investigation and punishment of invisible mutation violations such as “one-to-one”, “high-end housekeeping”, “crowdfunding private education” and “live-in teachers” will be strengthened.
Even in non-disciplinary fields such as sports, art, and music, individual institutions have seized on parents’ “test-taking anxiety.” A staff member of a children’s physical training institution recommended a set of comprehensive physical fitness classes to reporters, emphasizing that “the training content covered by the physical examination test, such as skipping rope, running, etc.”, on the flyer of another ski training institution, in the obvious The location is marked to provide “competition and professional level assessment to help you enter key elite schools”. A consultant of a dance training institution told the reporter: “I heard that dance specialties can be added to the senior high school entrance examination. Several provinces and cities across the country have already conducted pilot projects.” When the reporter asked the specific source of this policy, she did not elaborate. .
“There is no doubt that these practices, whether institutional or individual, are against the spirit of the state’s ‘double reduction’ opinion. If it is not properly governed and allowed to develop disorderly, it will inevitably affect the actual effect of the ‘double reduction’. Dong Shengzu suggested that local education administrative departments should cooperate with market supervision and other departments to set up special inspection teams to conduct unscheduled inspections and unannounced visits to off-campus training institutions. . In addition, it is necessary to speed up the legislative process of education and training supervision, clarify the supervision responsibilities of various departments, rationalize the comprehensive law enforcement mechanism, and strengthen the front-line management force.
In response to the voices of the interviewed parents expecting strict governance of invisible training, the Ministry of Education is also continuing to promote the inspection and handling of complaints and reports on off-campus training. As of the end of May 2022, the verification and processing of the third batch of 616 off-campus training complaints and reporting clues transferred from the State Council Internet Plus Supervision, the official website of the Ministry of Education, and the “China Education Supervision” WeChat public account reporting platform has been basically completed.
“Too many facts have proved that excessive training violates the basic educational laws and is not conducive to the healthy growth of students’ physical and mental health. The contradiction between quality education and exam-oriented education is a difficult problem facing China’s education,” said Luo Zubing, a professor at Central China Normal University. Parents currently have high expectations for education. In the final analysis, this contradiction can be fundamentally resolved only when people play down the competitive choices for social resources and pay less attention to the level of education.
(Some of the interviewees in the article use pseudonyms)
“Guangming Daily” (July 26, 2022, version 13)
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责编：李宜蒙 ]