China’s State Council has announced stringent new restrictions on school curricula and private school ownership, the latest in a series of steps aimed at reining in the country’s rapidly expanding education market. The new legislation, which takes effect on Sept. 1, forbids foreign companies from owning or controlling private K-9 schools and prohibits the instruction of foreign curricula in schools from kindergarten to grade nine (K-9).
There are reportedly private K-9 schools in China that teach both Chinese and international curricula. In China, ninth-grade students are usually 15 or 16 years old.
According to the Private Education Promotion Law, which was released on Friday on the government website, members of the board of directors or some other decision-making body at a private K-9 school must be Chinese nationals and must include representatives from the regulators.
K-9 schools will no longer be allowed to hold entrance exams or pre-hire candidates. They would also be prohibited from creating private schools or transforming existing private schools as private schools.
According to reports from various news outlets, China is enacting strict new regulations for its burgeoning private tutoring sector, with the aim of relieving pressure on schoolchildren whilst also increasing the country’s birth rate by lowering family living costs.
