An Examination of Chinese education reform by concentrating on the recent “double reduction” policy

Thursday, August 8 | 12:30PM | Hybrid format in-person in HC 1325 (Vancouver Campus) and on Zoom

Asbtract:
The most recent Chinese government review of its educational system resulted in the 2021 “double reduction policy”，aimed at decreasing in-school assignments and limiting off-site tutoring programs. This policy has sparked intense debate among educational policymakers and those directly affected: parents, teachers, and the after-school education industry since July 2021.

In this thesis, I first explore the history of the Chinese central government's concern with “educational burden”, then, based on my reading of public media and semi-public podcasts, I use Freeman’s stakeholder framework to consider the implications of the double reduction policy. I found that teachers’ working hours are becoming longer and off-campus tutoring organizations are undergoing transformation—either shifting to non-profit models or altering their service offerings—and parents’ educational anxieties regarding their children have not decreased, but rather new anxieties about education have emerged.

Keywords: double reduction policy, education reform, burden-reduction, stakeholders

Examining Committee:
Chair: Dr. Lindsey Freeman, Associate Professor, Sociology & Anthropology, SFU
Supervisor: Dr. Cindy Patton, Professor Emeritus, Sociology & Anthropology, SFU
Committee Member: Dr. Huamei Han, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education , SFU
Examiner: Dr. Irene Pang, Assistant Professor, School for International Studies, SFU

Please note that the defence will be held in a Hybrid format in-person in HC 1325 and on Zoom. If you'd like to be added to the Zoom attendee list, please contact gradsecsa@sfu.ca no later than 4PM on Tuesday August 6th, 2024.