Summary

China's State Council and Communist Party Central Committee have recently announced new guidelines for the continuing reform of both compulsory 9-year education (primary and lower secondary school) and high-school education. Most relevantly for the UK education sector, the compulsory education reform plan forbids schools at the compulsory education level from directly using an overseas curriculum or teaching materials.

At the compulsory education level the plans also call for tightening control of admissions, in particular forbidding admission on the basis of examinations, interviews or qualifications. They also call for schools to control the amount of homework they assign and the number of exams students must take, and forbid schools from ranking students on the basis of exam results or grades. At the high school level the document emphasises implementation of the new curriculum which is the basis for the reformed Gaokao university entrance examinations; calls for improvements to management of elective classes; and prohibits schools from promoting themselves on the basis of "Gaokao champions" and the proportion of students entering universities.

Priorities at both levels include raising standards through better teacher training; optimising the curriculum; enhancing the use of information technology in education; focusing on developing well-rounded individuals; increasing resources for schools in less-developed parts of China; improving quality monitoring; strengthening organisational leadership; and enhancing "moral education" to strengthen patriotism and the influence of the Communist Party.

Analysis by Kevin Prest, Senior Analyst, British Council International Education Services

In general both plans are in line with previous trends in China's education policy, and largely reiterate existing policy.

The most relevant issue from a UK perspective is the prohibition of overseas teaching materials at the compulsory education level. China has long required schools enrolling domestic students at the compulsory education level to teach the local curriculum, and in September 2018 the Ministry of Education stepped up enforcement of schools replacing this curriculum with overseas materials and unapproved textbooks. However the recent announcement appears to go beyond this and entirely prohibit primary and lower secondary schools from offering an overseas curriculum and teaching materials.

Enforcement of this policy could affect schools that currently offer a hybrid curriculum to Chinese citizens at the compulsory education level, although it is still possible to supplement the national curriculum with courses designed by the school itself.

This change does not affect schools outside of the compulsory education age range, which make up a large majority of international schools in China. It also does not apply to schools registered as "Schools for the Children of Foreign Workers", which only allow admission to students with overseas passports.

Sources

1. State Council - Guiding opinions on promoting the reform of high school education (in Chinese): http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2019-06/19/content_5401568.htm

2. State Council & Central Committee of the Communist Party - Opinions on deepening the reform of education and teaching and comprehensively improving the quality of compulsory eucation (in Chinese): http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2019-07/08/c_1124725254.htm

3. Xinhua: Ministry of Education to investigate the use of overseas textbooks in compulsory education (September 2018, in Chinese): http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2018-09/20/c_1123459515.htm