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China Economic Weekly reporter Shi Qingchuan | Chongqing Report

"The XSC contest of BS is about to begin." "We are SA." "How to choose QLZ and CQT?" These abbreviations and codes may not be understood by outsiders, but if parents of primary school students in Chongqing are familiar with these abbreviations, they can even form barrier-free reading with automatic brain conversion.

In fact, these are all acronyms for "Xiaoshengchu" in choosing schools. For example, XSC is "Xiaoshengchu". But I don’t know when the word "Xiaoshengchu" seems to have become a forbidden word, and parents and educational institutions are afraid to call them by their first names. Behind these three letters, it is the educational "anxiety" that is hard to hide.

"Olympiad Mathematics" and "Landing"

On November 3, when Teacher Zhai told Bowen that he might not be able to come to class this week because of the big inspection above, Bowen felt a little ironic. Just three days ago, the teacher Zhai vowed to assure him: "Our training class has survived through’ double reduction’ and has contact with the competent authorities. It is absolutely impossible to suspend classes or run away." And just three days later, this guarantee was broken.

Bowen is a Buddhist parent. He has always been adhering to the principle of "happy childhood" in the education of his children, and has never given extra lessons to children who are studying in primary schools until this year when they enter the third grade.

The change is due to the parent group. During the summer vacation this year, a parent asked other parents in the group if they knew a high-quality tutoring institution for "Olympic Mathematics". At first, the blog post was not taken seriously. He felt that the use of "Olympic Mathematics" was limited in real life. If a child is very interested in logical thinking, it is ok to learn and cultivate interest. There is no need for ordinary students to increase this burden. But three months later, Bowen discovered the mystery behind the Olympiad.

Bowen thought that the previous parents gave up without finding a good institution, but the fact is just the opposite. There are more and more parents in the group who send their children to learn "Olympic Mathematics". Parents once again talked about "Olympic Mathematics" learning because the "Olympic Mathematics" training class is dividing students into classes. A parent in the group said that the No.2 class of an institution has the opportunity to "go ashore" before the fifth grade, and the chance of being assigned to Class 4 is very slim. "Go ashore" is the most frequently mentioned word among parents, which means that you have got the admission quota of a key middle school. Some students have "landed" in the fourth grade of primary school, while others have "landed" in the fifth grade, while those who "landed" in the sixth grade have already taken the last bus. "Olympiad" is the key to "landing".

A parent in the group told Bowen that many key junior high schools will conduct selection exams outside the school. Most of the mathematics subjects in the exams are "Olympiad", and students who meet the score requirements will get the "admission ticket" of the school. The parents also revealed that if the child is gifted and begins to learn "Olympic Mathematics" in the summer vacation of grade one, he will have the opportunity to "go ashore" in the next semester of grade four, and in the remaining two years, the child can choose to do some extracurricular interest study, or travel around the mountains, or even start the junior high school course directly, so as to be admitted to key high schools later.

This kind of situation was unexpected by the blog post. The "Olympiad", which was originally thought to have no practical value, turned into a "shortcut" for children to get to key middle schools. This also made Bowen panic. He began to think about whether his children can have equal opportunities if others are occupying places in key middle schools in this way, and whether they should also make up for the "Olympic Mathematics".

It didn’t take long for the idea to turn into action. After the National Day holiday, a tutorial institution directly contacted the blog post. The other party accurately reported the name, age and primary school name of Bowen’s children by telephone, and told Bowen that many students in the primary school where their children were studying were tutoring in their institutions.

A classroom that can only be accessed by stairs

The interview with the teachers of the tutorial institutions is last weekend. The teacher who called Bowen to promote the course said that they mainly attend classes on weekends, so they can take their children to experience the classroom atmosphere and see if they can adapt.

The tutorial institution is in a dilapidated building, with only 12 floors, and there is an elevator with creaking doors upstairs and downstairs. The second and third floors are apartment-style hotels, and there are beauty salons and offices of engineering companies upstairs, among which several training institutions are mixed. The teacher who contacted Bowen told him to take the elevator to the 11th floor, then contact him by phone, and someone would pick him up.

After arriving at the 11th floor, Bowen found that this is not a tutorial institution, but an adult vocational training school. Just about to go in, a middle-aged man stopped him at the door: "I’m Teacher Sun, didn’t I just call?" After receiving a positive reply from Bowen, Mr. Sun took Bowen to the stairwell and then reached the 12th floor through the stairs. Bowen saw that in the elevator room, the elevator door on the 12th floor was tightly locked by a fence. Teacher Sun explained, "The elevator is broken today, so we have to come up the stairs. So let you go to the 11th floor first. "

After entering this classroom, other teachers locked the big door and turned off the lights in the reception area at the door. "We don’t have classes today, so the doors are locked." Maybe I saw that Bowen didn’t bring the children with him. Teacher Sun gave an explanation that contradicted the previous statement.

After entering a small classroom, Bowen came straight to the point and asked, "You also know why we are learning Olympic Mathematics, so I asked directly, what are the chances of getting into a key junior high school by training Olympic Mathematics here?"

Teacher Sun still looked very cautious. He looked at the blog post up and down, poured a glass of water and asked questions about the students. "Children didn’t come with you today? We should also look at whether a student is suitable for studying’ Olympic Mathematics’ according to his foundation. Some foundations are too poor, and we will feel that there is no need to make up. Only parents can think of other ways. "

As Bowen told what he had learned from his parents, Mr. Sun began to reveal: "We will promote students according to their learning conditions. According to our curriculum plan, children can finish these’ Olympic Mathematics’ courses in the fifth grade, and then they can take the exam through our promotion." He revealed that teaching and training institutions have cooperated with many junior high schools, such as the so-called Dragon Ball, the first echelon in Chongqing, some famous schools with the second echelon, and even some key districts, and their institutions have channels to promote excellent students. As long as you learn to brush the questions in the institution and reach a certain score, the institution will arrange to take the exam in junior high school.

"We can arrange the brushing questions according to the children’s level, and only brush the questions from the junior high school to be tested. After they finish the exam, we can get these real questions within a few days. You can rest assured in this regard." Teacher Sun also intentionally or unintentionally revealed the close relationship between his institution and the school. "It doesn’t matter even if we don’t get in the final exam. We also have direct channels to spend money (go to school)."

A shopping mall full of educational institutions

Due to the cramped classrooms and too many one-time purchase courses, Bowen didn’t confirm his registration that day. In the next few days, Bowen began to receive frequent invitation calls for tutoring "Olympic Mathematics". They may show off more than 70% of their institutions’ "landing rate", or show their institutions’ safe class environment. Some even start to step on other institutions, and some institutions directly pull blog posts into the "Xiaoshengchu" push test resource group.

The second organization that Bowen visited was slightly larger, and the classroom was in the shopping mall in the business district. Bowen turned around this shopping mall a few years ago, but when he came back a few years later, it was completely different here. The original clothing stores and department stores are almost gone, and the occasional one is piled up in a mess, like a temporary warehouse. In sharp contrast, there are closely arranged teaching and training institutions in shopping malls. In addition to the children’s playground on the ground floor, almost two-thirds of the stores on each floor are teaching and training institutions, with street dance, calligraphy, programming, painting, Go and so on, and even the atrium open space is a venue for learning roller skating.

The institution that Bowen went to see is also located among them. Although the signboard at the door is hung with calligraphy, science and other interests in learning, the "Xiaoshengchu" math exercise placed at the front desk implies that there is Gan Kun.

At first, Bowen had a very good impression on this institution. Compared with the classroom where the door was locked before, it was brighter here, and the business license hanging in the obvious position at the front desk also reassured Bowen a lot.

But by the time of class, Bowen found himself thinking simply. The classroom displayed was used for calligraphy classes. Teacher Zhai, who is in charge of reception, led Bowen and the students into the fire escape. After going up one floor through the fire escape, he entered a fire door with a sign "Parents are not allowed to enter" at the door. Behind the door sat a man dressed as a security guard. He stared warily at the fire door that was only opened on one side. The classroom environment inside the door is as bad as that of the previous institution.

This also made Bowen worry once again that another round of "double reduction" inspection is coming, and is there any risk that the institution will be shut down?

The "Xiaoshengchu" enrollment training organized by an institution is mainly aimed at parents of students.

Parents are not allowed in the classroom.

Teachers who do odd jobs

On August 23rd, the Ministry of Education promulgated the Interim Measures for Administrative Punishment of Off-campus Training, and announced that it would come into force on October 15th, 2023. Teacher Liu Teng, who is doing K12 tutoring, seems a little dismissive of this matter: "Punish it and see how long it can be punished."

In fact, Liu Teng is not completely indifferent. Just a few months ago, he went through the running of the teaching and training institution where he worked, and his salary for several months was therefore lost. This change instantly made Liu Teng, who was carrying a mortgage and a car loan, at a loss. Since the beginning of this year, Liu Teng has changed three educational institutions. Every time he feels that the company is closing down, he begins to look for new opportunities. However, even if he is so careful, he has not been spared this time. "When I first joined the company and haven’t adapted to the rhythm, the company closed." Liu Teng said that fortunately, there are many people in the company, and dozens of teachers are running with them in the front line of salary.

Liu Teng and others organized a WeChat group to exchange the latest information about salary-seeking every week. At first, some teachers invited lawyers to take legal channels. As time went by, many teachers focused on finding new jobs. After all, it was more urgent to support their families. "The legal representative of the company has no money, and the money of the institution is given priority to the students. It is our turn to have extra money. Our wages are basically lost. " A teacher said in the group.

Although the money won’t come back, life will continue. Liu Teng said that finding an educational institution now makes him feel unsafe, but the person who has been a teacher for almost 20 years is over the age limit, and it is basically impossible to get into a public school. Now he only has to "do odd jobs" temporarily to support his family.

"Doing odd jobs" means going to students’ homes for scattered "one-on-one" counseling through various channels. Such teachers are not uncommon. Liu Teng and others also formed a WeChat group, and each teacher in the group has his own student resources, forming an information network. In this network, people who need make-up lessons only need to give the students’ grades, make-up courses and approximate locations, and teachers will accept the entrustment. Some people earn class fees, others earn information fees, and "Liu Tengmen" get their income after unemployment through this network of contacts.

When there is no entrustment, these WeChat groups are like a mutual help group, and teachers will exchange exam questions and study materials in the group. Recently, however, they have been talking more about the implementation of the new punishment method on October 15th.

"The new regulations on the 15th mainly depend on where the specific executive department is. If the Education Commission executes the punishment, then I will hide; If it is the education Committee that unites with the community to implement the punishment, then I will be ready for the money. " The person in charge of a small K12 education and training institution privately said that this is how the "double reduction" came about. The large institutions were hit more obviously. To avoid the joint law enforcement of the education commission and other departments, the small institutions mainly dealt with the grid workers in the community. "Just prepare the money. This time I prepared 800,000 yuan to see if it was enough to punish me several times."

Avoid inspection, but also guard against unannounced visits to reporters.

Although the day of October 15 was not any different from before, the big inspection came as scheduled. On November 4th, Liu Teng’s group sent out a screenshot of the meeting minutes of an educational institution whose name was erased. The educational institution reminded: "From November 4th (Saturday) to November 9th (Thursday), all institutions will be closed. This inspection involves many departments, and points will be deducted if there are problems; If the institution is found to have problems, it will immediately issue a ticket and revoke the relevant qualifications. At the same time, guard against unannounced visits to reporters. It is best not to put the front desk when closing the door. People who come to check will set up various traps to ask questions; At this stage, the telephone entrance is well closed, and there can be no subject-related. It is best to stop all the telephones. Most of the problems are problems with the consultation port. "

The "odd job" teacher circle instantly exploded. A teacher revealed that there was a gossip that Beijing sent someone to inspect it, so it was so strict. Another teacher immediately said that all the off-campus institutions in Yubei District have been suspended. Another teacher said that the signal was cut off when he was online. The next day, another teacher said that he was visited when he was making up lessons for three children in his own home, but there was no fine and no registration, only the students were sent home.

For a time, all kinds of news came one after another. But Liu Teng is used to it, and he thinks it’s no big deal, because it was the same after the introduction of "double reduction" at that time, as long as the news passed, it would be "business as usual".

However, the "Olympic Mathematics" class that Bowen reported to his children was affected. Only three days ago did the teacher Zhai swear to himself that it was impossible for the school to suspend classes and run away. However, today’s situation can’t help but make Bowen feel ironic and scared. He thinks that whether the organization runs away or is closed down, the refund of fees may become a big problem.

"In fact, it is not so troublesome to refund the fee now." The person in charge of the above-mentioned small K12 teaching and training institutions revealed that many teaching and training institutions had expanded rapidly before, and invested their tuition fees in campus expansion and marketing promotion, which led to difficulties in suddenly shutting down the refund fee. However, after a round of "double reduction", many institutions stopped campus expansion, and the marketing and promotion of small institutions mainly focused on telemarketing and bringing new products to parents, and the cost dropped. "As long as we don’t refund the fees centrally, the problem is not big."

With so many uncertain factors, why should we be a teaching and training institution? The person in charge of the above-mentioned small K12 education and training institution smiled helplessly: "My own children are also making up the Olympic Mathematics. The demand in the market is so great that we can’t all go to public schools for education. "

"Who doesn’t want a degree in their jurisdiction to be valuable?"

In fact, it is not easy to "junior high school" through training such as "Olympic Mathematics". According to Teacher Sun’s description to the blog post, the "Xiaoshengchu" exam is essentially "pinching the tip", looking for a better individual among a group of excellent children.

"The policies of reducing the burden and’ double reduction’ have reduced the difficulty of teaching school courses, making all children look excellent, and primary schools can reach more than 95 points. How can we find the better group of students?" Teacher Sun said that each school will organize its own selection examination, some famous schools will choose their own students, and some schools will form alliances to jointly issue questions. There are also many classifications of these exams, some of which will be ranked directly and admitted on the basis of merit. This kind of exam is called "one pass", and this kind of school is the easiest to "land". Some will have multiple rounds of exams. After the first round of Chinese mathematics scores, they will take a variety of things, such as physical chemistry, on-site teaching, and on-site direct exams to test students’ learning ability. For example, some schools have interviews, and teachers who have had interviews have asked students about the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on the world, not to get answers, but to test students’ adaptability and on-the-spot reasoning ability. " Another teacher from a teaching and training institution revealed that there are also interviews with parents, but they are rare in Chongqing, and most of them are assessments of students in various dimensions. "In this respect, we will also carry out some simple training for students according to our own experience."

"So choosing a school is also very particular." Teacher Sun said that "Xiaoshengchu" seems to be choosing junior high school, but it is actually choosing high school. He persuaded Bowen that "Xiaoshengchu" should try not to choose a school without a high school when choosing a junior high school, because there are both junior high schools and high schools, and the high school has some pertinence for the admission of junior high schools.

At the same time, Mr. Sun also dismissed the idea that Bowen chose a school through the school district. He revealed that according to his experience in the past two years, even if there is a school district near a prestigious school, it is also a parallel class. The teachers in the parallel class are not the best in this school, and the students in the parallel class also come in through the school district, which is no different from ordinary schools.

Behind this is the logic of grabbing high-quality students. "The high-quality students cultivated in this middle school certainly don’t want to be taken away by other schools, and the way to keep high-quality students is to enhance the reputation of their own schools. The reason why a good school is a good school is not only that it has strong teachers, but also that it needs a group of excellent students. Such a school is a famous school. Without good students, how can we show a good teacher? " Teacher Sun explained to Bowen the reasons for choosing a school, which is why he believes that he will not lose his job in this line of work.

Liu Teng said that the predecessors in the teaching and training industry taught him: "Just look at the price of the school district. As long as the price of the school district in a region is still rising, the teaching and training industry around it will last for a long time. Do you think so? What region would not want the degree in its jurisdiction to be valuable?"

(Note: Wen Bowen and Liu Teng are pseudonyms)

(This article was published in China Economic Weekly, No.22, 2023)