Summary

China's Ministry of Education has recently released regulations on teaching materials to be used in the primary, secondary, vocational and higher education sectors. These regulations include a rule, previously announced by the Ministry in July, that schools at the compulsory education level may not use textbooks or teaching materials introduced directly from overseas. Compulsory education in China consists of six years of primary school and three years of junior high school.

Regular senior high schools are also forbidden from using overseas textbooks or teaching materials, but exceptions are made for Sino-foreign joint schools and for overseas education programmes that have been approved by provincial-level authorities.

The regulations clarify that higher education institutions and secondary vocational schools may continue to use overseas teaching materials if domestically-published textbooks cannot meet their teaching needs, although they state that government-approved materials should be used where possible. At the higher education level, the new regulations specifically encourage Chinese textbook publishers to license and translate overseas textbooks in the fields of natural sciences, engineering and technology, as well as to write new textbooks in national strategic fields including AI, big data, blockchain, network security, environmental sciences, ocean sciences and energy.

The new rules cover both public and private schools in China, although they do not affect "Schools for the Children of Overseas Workers" (international schools whose recruitment is limited to overseas citizens).

More broadly, the newly-issued regulations set out processes and requirements for approving new textbooks. Textbook publishers are still permitted to license content from overseas, and textbooks that have been licensed and re-published by domestic publishers with approval from the Ministry of Education or the relevant provincial education authorities will not be counted as overseas textbooks.

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

The Ministry of Education's original announcement of the ban on overseas textbooks and teaching materials was reported by the British Council in July (see link below). Schools at the compulsory education level have always been required to teach the Chinese national curriculum, but these regulations now make it more difficult for schools to supplement this with overseas elements to create a hybrid curriculum.

However, the new rules will not affect the majority of students studying an international curriculum in China, as these are mainly offered at the senior high school level. A large number of schools in China are approved to offer an international curriculum (such as A-levels or IB) to students aged 15 and over, and these schools may continue to use overseas teaching materials. Similarly, universities or vocational schools may also continue to use overseas textbooks in areas where Chinese publishers have not produced any suitable teaching materials.

Sources

1. Global Times - Overseas textbooks banned in Chinese primary and junior high schools: https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1175952.shtml

2. Ministry of Education - Announcement on the Issuance of "Administrative regulations for primary and secondary school teaching materials", "Administrative regulations for vocational school teaching materials" and "Administrative regulations for higher education teaching materials" (in Chinese): http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A26/moe_714/202001/t20200107_414578.html

3. Ministry of Education - Questions and Answers from the Ministry of Education on administrative regulations for teaching materials (in Chinese): http://www.gov.cn/fuwu/2020-01/08/content_5467432.htm

4. British Council International Education Services – China issues reform plans for compulsory and high-school education, tightens rules on the use of overseas materials at the compulsory education level (July 2019): https://education-services.britishcouncil.org/news/market-news/china-issues-reform-plans-compulsory-and-high-school-education-tightens-rules-use