China Bans Private Tutors

In China, a competitive higher education system has made expensive and unregulated tutoring services popular with parents. However, the Chinese government has recently sought to reduce the cost of child-rearing in an effort to increase a lagging birthrate, and one aspect of this effort has resulted in a ban on for-profit private tutors. China banned private tutors from giving classes online or in unregistered venues such as residential buildings, hotels, and coffee shops, ramping up its effort to stamp out all for-profit tutoring. Authorities banned for-profit tutoring in subjects on the school curriculum in an effort to ease pressure on children and parents. The crackdown on tutoring has roiled the shares of tutoring companies traded in Hong Kong and New York, including New Oriental Education & Technology Group ($EDU@China) and Gaotu Techedu Inc ($GOTU@China). Media has reported on various ways parents and tutors have been trying to circumvent the rules, including how some agencies were advertising live-in tutors who could command salaries of up to $4,650 a month. In some places, tutoring has moved underground to evade the regulations. The ministry said off-campus centers that offer tutoring in subjects on the school curriculum need to be licensed, operate out of registered venues and hire qualified teachers.