On May 14, China’s State Council announced the newly revised regulations for private school education, which will be implemented in time for the new school year on September 1. The contents stipulate that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations in private schools should participate in and supervise major school decisions. This is considered the beginning of the CCP’s strengthening of control over the education industry and part of the CCP’s “Strengthening Social Control Plan.” It is still unclear which field will be its next target, but the uncertainty has caused education stock prices to drop.
The Voice of America (VOA) Chinese website reported that Article 1 of this newly revised regulation stipulates that private schools should “adhere to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.” The specific method for implementing the leadership of the CCP is for the grassroots CCP organizations in schools to “participate in major school decisions and supervision.”
The article also mentioned that the school’s decision-making body “should have the participation of the person in charge of the CCP organization,” and that the relevant supervision agency should also have “representatives from the party’s grassroots organization.”
In addition, this regulation also prohibits any social organization or individual from using a merger and acquisition to control private schools or non-profit based pre-schools. At the same time, it also requires increased supervision of schools that are run by social organizations when their partner is from a foreign country but has a majority of the control.
Before the 1980s, except for a few private schools in remote areas, China’s primary and secondary education were basically government-run public education. After the reform and opening up in the 1990s, domestic private capital and international capital gradually flowed into the elementary education field. Many private schools were formed in large and medium-sized cities. These schools adopted foreign teaching materials and used advanced teaching technology. They were mostly favored by wealthy urban residents who paid hefty fees to send their children to these schools.
Source: Central News Agency, May 16, 2021
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202105160196.aspx