School’s Back in Session… for You, Moms and Dads!

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In the wake of education reforms that have shaken China’s multimillion-dollar after-school tutoring industry to its core, training centers are revamping their business models and coming up with new strategies to stay afloat. One such innovation has been the rise of 父母智慧馆 （Fùmǔ zhìhuì guǎn） Parent Wisdom Halls, in which the training center organizes tutoring classes for, you guessed it, the parents.

When I first received a phone call from the telemarketer/sales rep of an “education center” I had left my number with during a school fair, I listened vaguely, trying to distill the key message with my highly limited Chinese vocabulary. I pieced together that it was a math training center, and was intrigued about what they could possibly be selling now that after-school tutoring was all but banned. Then I heard it, “We would like to invite you to attend this special class to teach you how to teach your child math.”

I interrupted the man and clarified that he had indeed just invited me, the parent, to attend a tutoring class, so that I could come home and in turn, give my child a class. He confirmed it. I burst out laughing and thanked him for his time, then hung up. I heard the same thing happen to another parent and did some digging to discover that it was not an anomaly, but a rising trend.

Such strategies employed by training centers facing shrinking profits are clearly evidence of the toxic education culture that Jingkids editor Julie Wolf has written about previously. I believe the point of the government’s latest education mandate was to free up kids so they can live a little, not free up the training centers so they can tutor parents instead.

On the other hand, a different strategy that I have heard of is how some after-school training centers are turning their focus to vocational education or enrichment activities, offering classes that fall outside the jurisdiction of the new laws. Depending on the nature and quality of these classes, I think I could abide by this strategy more than the previous one.

One local parent hit the nail on the head when quoted in a Chinese news article: “Ten years ago, I had to attend training classes as a kid. Ten years later, I have to attend training classes again as a parent!” Well, my friend, here’s hoping the government’s next rules help protect us woeful parents from that plight.

Images: Pexels

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