A new guideline (指导方针) introduced by central authorities (中央政府) on July 24, 2021 has helped many children enjoy more free time before. The guideline calls for reducing(减少) homework, improving the quality of education and regulating (规范) after-class activities, Xinhua reported.
According to the guideline, children below the third grade will not have homework. It should take no more than ninety for junior high school students to finish their homework every day.
More than three quarters of children in Chinese cities Grade 1 to 12 are taking private tutoring courses (私人辅导课程), Global Times reported.
"Parents are that if their children start behind, they will stay behind. Some training schools have taken advantage of (利用) parents' worries to money," said Chen Xianzhe, a professor at South China
Normal University. "The guideline is meant to calm (安抚) the worries of parents and society as a whole."
"But this does not mean the tutoring courses will completely disappear, since there are exams," said Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences. One-on-one or one-on-two tutoring might see a rise.
"Schools improve their education quality; take the main responsibility for students' education and not push them into tutoring courses," Chu added.
