Authorities in Beijing reiterated that the city will no longer approve new after-class tutoring institutes but will provide thousands of jobs for individuals affected by recent measures introduced to better regulate the education sector.

Officials said the city will offer 10,300 positions — including teaching, management, and marketing roles, among others ​​— for those who lost their jobs after the central government introduced several measures targeting the private tutoring sector in late July. The announcement was made Tuesday at a joint press conference by the Beijing Municipal Education Commission and the Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.

The new measures — also known as the “double reduction” approach — vows to reduce the academic burden on children and additional financial strain on parents, while curbing unfair competition among those students with access to after school tutoring. Following the announcement last month, several leading education platforms have started to cut back on staff.

“We found that more than 90% of employees in the city’s tutoring industry are under 35, and about 80% of them graduated with at least a bachelor's degree,” said Lu Xiaobo, spokesperson at the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.

In addition to regulating after-school tutoring, authorities in Beijing also plan to supervise tracking at schools, a practise where academic institutes handpick top students and provide them with preferential treatment. The measure intends to end favoritism toward certain students and promote a fairer educational environment.

Officials added that as well as reducing the academic burden on students, the new measures would free up time for additional exercise and help to reduce rates of obesity and myopia among children. Earlier this year, China formed an expert committee to help curb the increasing rates of myopia among children — one of the worst in the world — while making physical education as important as other core subjects.

Editor: Bibek Bhandari.

(Header image: People Visual)