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A student hugs her teacher at an exam centre in Guiyang, the capital of southwest China’s Guizhou province, on June 7, the first day of China’s annual college entrance exam. Photo: Xinhua
Opinion
Winston Mok
Winston Mok

China can level its education playing field by letting non-profit online academies bloom

  • Over 10 million Chinese students have just taken the university entrance exams, a system that seems fair but is shot through with inequality, exacerbated by the rise of private tutoring
  • High-quality, non-profit online tutoring could help underprivileged students make the cut
China’s university entrance examinations (gaokao), held earlier this week, are seen by most of the 10.8 million registered students and their parents as life determining. As more than 80 per cent of exam takers progress to some form of higher education, what is the big deal?

This high admission rate is inclusive of those enrolling in China’s vocational colleges. The admission rate into four-year university degree programmes is about 44 per cent, with large regional variations – ranging from 33 per cent in Henan to 76 per cent in Beijing.

But not all degrees are equal. At “tier one” universities, the admission rate is around 24 per cent, with even greater variations across regions, from Guangdong’s 15 per cent (the lowest is Guangxi at 10 per cent) to Beijing’s 46 per cent (the highest).

At the top of “tier one” universities are institutions under the government’s “985” and “211” projects which can be entry tickets for prestigious jobs. However, less than 2 per cent of exam takers from most provinces (1.3 per cent for Guangdong) gain entrance to “985” universities. The notable exceptions are Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin, where 4.3 per cent to 5.8 per cent of exam takers gain university places in this top league.
In such an environment, 17 per cent of the students taking the gaokao this year 1.9 million – are retaking the exam with an eye on getting into better universities.

02:05

Chinese students in nervous wait for results of ‘make or break’ gaokao university entrance exams

Chinese students in nervous wait for results of ‘make or break’ gaokao university entrance exams
For those with the means, getting into the upper echelons of the global pyramid of higher education outside China is often easier. But, for most, the gaokao is the main path to upward mobility or just staying in the middle classes.
Although university admission by public examination seems fair, there are multiple inequalities in China’s system. First, the rates of admission into good universities vary greatly across regions in a system governed by quotas favouring local residents. Second, the quality of secondary schools diverges between major cities and rural areas. And, third, affluent families invest large sums in private tuition to boost their children’s exam performance.

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Private tuition is a huge business in China, where kindergarten to grade 12 after-school training is a US$120-billion-a-year market. In urban centres, Chinese parents spend an average of 120,000 yuan (US$18,759) a year on tuition, some shelling out as much as 300,000 yuan. This financial burden has suppressed fertility.
The Chinese government has started to clamp down on the excesses of private tuition, with more detailed regulations to come, causing share prices of major tutoring companies to crash.
Tutoring is not inherently bad. The Khan Academy has been an outstanding global public good, for example. And NGOs are involved in improving the education of disadvantaged students in China through volunteer-run tuition classes.

02:55

How technology is improving education in rural China

How technology is improving education in rural China

The real problem is commercial tuition operations exploiting the hopes and fears of parents – draining family resources, squeezing out alternative consumption and deterring births. Expensive private tuition, favouring the affluent, aggravates inequality.

Overly drilled students can lose motivation and creativity, gaining arcane exam knowledge while losing out on opportunities to develop essential life skills.

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Parents invest in tuition to give their children an advantage over the “competition”. As more people do the same, tuition no longer becomes optional. While the bar is raised, the relative competitive position of students, at least in urban areas, remains largely unchanged.

Regulating commercial tuition is only half of what is needed: China should also look to promote high-quality non-profit tuition, which can be an effective instrument to reduce inequality.

Chinese high school physics tutor Liu Jie, who has a following of several million teenage fans, gives an online lesson from a recording studio in Beijing in April 2016. Photo: AFP
Reforming university admissions or upgrading secondary education outside big cities are difficult and require considerable time. Providing good-quality, non-profit online tuition for free or at nominal cost would be easier and cheaper, and would have a big and immediate impact. Online education can help poorly resources local schools overcome limitations – if students everywhere can gain free or low-cost online access to the best teaching.

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Non-profit organisations, unfettered from profit imperatives, are freer to deliver genuine learning outcomes. They can move beyond cramming to student-directed learning. Such platforms could include AI-assisted coaches on demand. Motivated and capable but disadvantaged students rise to the top with the help of online learning. This turn to non-profit organisations can help China better realise the potential of its dwindling pool of working-age human capital.

So, let a hundred non-profit online academies bloom in China. With competition from non-profit organisations, commercial operators will have to deliver better value for money and refocus on certain niche areas.

01:01

Pupils cheer for boy who achieved full marks in China

Pupils cheer for boy who achieved full marks in China

China’s Ministry of Education could take the lead in establishing an online tuition platform. Given that there are regional variations in China’s university entrance exams, provincial and municipal governments could launch versions tailored to their respective exams.

Leading universities could provide online tuition as a public good. University-run academies can be primarily in charge of the platform, with most content student-created. Who is better equipped to develop content than top performers in recent exams?

The provision of online education should not be limited to the state or the market. The Khan Academy was started by one person at home. China’s civil society should be able to play a major role. Through non-profit online academies, the state can embrace civil society as a constructive force, which can address social needs in support of national development.

Winston Mok, a private investor, was previously a private equity investor

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