Summary

Following the changes to China’s Private Education Law passed last year, the Ministry of Education has issued implementation guidelines regarding various aspects of private education in the country. These guidelines provide more context for institutions affected by the new law, which will come into effect on September 1^st 2017.

The document "Implementation details for classified registration of private schools" gives some additional details regarding the procedure for registering schools under the new law. Existing schools wishing to operate on a non-profit basis may continue operating while they revise their articles of association and register as a non-profit organisation. Meanwhile, those wishing to convert to for-profit status must be liquidated and clearly establish the ownership of assets such as land and school buildings before applying for a new school permit.

The document "Implementation details for the supervision and administration of for-profit private schools” gives more details on regulations for schools of this type, including the requirements that must be met to establish a for-profit school and procedures to enrol students.

Meanwhile, the State Council released an opinion entitled “Opinions on encouraging social Input to set up education institutions to promote the healthy development of private education” last month. The opinion lays out similar goals as those set out in the new Private Education Law and the Five Year Plan, such as encouraging local governments to enhance their financial support for private education and encouraging private schools to better serve the needs of society, to introduce innovate schooling patterns, to enhance capacity building for teaching staff, and to introduce international education resources.

The Opinions also allow private schools to enjoy a series of preferential tax and land (allocation and usage) policies; clarify that the same policies on low-interest student loans should apply to students from both private and public schools; and reinforce statements in the Private Education Law on differentiated tuition fee policies between for-profit and non-profit schools.

According to the MoE, in 2016, there were a total of 171,000 private schools at all levels (kindergarten to university), up around 5 per cent over the previous year (162,000). A large majority of these (154,200) were at the kindergarten level. Over 48 million students were enrolled in these private schools

Analysis by Kevin Prest and Xiaoxiao Liu

These supporting regulatory documents clarify some aspects of China’s new Private Education Law, which was previously covered on SIEM News (see link below). The law creates a formal framework for for-profit schools, but also bans for-profit education at the compulsory education level (primary and lower secondary school, covering ages 6 to 15).

International schools make up an important segment within China’s private school market, especially as government bodies in various regions have acted to discourage international programmes in public schools in recent years. In addition to sending large numbers of students to overseas universities, some private international schools are run in cooperation with overseas schools, including those in the UK.

Sources:

1. SIEM News: China bans "for-profit" private schools at the compulsory education level (age 6-15): https://education-services.britishcouncil.org/news/market-news/china-bans-profit-private-schools-compulsory-education-level-age-6-15

2. “Opinions on encouraging social Input to set up education institutions to promote the healthy development of private education”: http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_sy/sy_gwywj/201701/t20170118_295161.html

3. Policy Briefing on the “Opinions on encouraging social Input to set up education institutions to promote the healthy development of private education”: http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/s271/201701/t20170118_295146.html

4. Vice Minister’s remarks on the “Opinions on encouraging social Input to set up education institutions to promote the healthy development of private education”: http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2017-01/18/content_5161052.htm

5. "Implementation details for classified registration of private schools": http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A03/s3014/201701/t20170118_295142.html

6. "Implementation details for the supervision and administration of for-profit private schools”: http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A03/s3014/201701/t20170118_295144.html

7. Other related news: http://english.gov.cn/policies/latest_releases/2017/01/18/content_281475544869882.htm; http://english.gov.cn/news/top_news/2017/01/04/content_281475532563464.htm; http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2017-01/24/content_28041215.htm;