China’s New Education law

China passed its New Education Law on October 23, 2021 with the aim of cutting the “twin pressures” of homework and off-site tutoring in the core subjects.

Background

This law is new, in series of China’s assertive paternal hand in the year 2021. China took several assertive moves ranging from:

1. Tackling addiction of youngsters to online games,
2. Deemed a form of spiritual opium
3. Clamp down on blind worship of internet celebrities.

On October 18, 2021, Parliament of China noted that, it will consider legislation for punishing parents if their young children exhibit “bad behaviour” or “commit crimes”.

About the new law

The new law has made the local governments responsible to ensure that the twin pressures on children are reduced. It also asks parents to arrange the time of their children to account for reasonable rest and exercise in order to reduce pressure and avoid overuse of the internet. New law also cut back on homework and banned after-school tutoring for some major subjects on weekend and holidays.

Other steps by government

In recent months, education ministry of China has limited gaming hours for minors. It only allows them to play online for one hour on days like Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Education in China

In China, education is primarily managed by the state-run public education system. It falls under the Ministry of Education. As per law, all citizens in China are required to attend school for a minimum of nine years called as “nine-year compulsory education”. Compulsory education is funded by the government.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2021