China's "Double Reduction" Policy Strongly Promoted to Ease Student Burden, But Pressure Remains Despite Exams
Despite China's robust promotion of the "Double Reduction" policy aimed at easing students' academic burden, its effectiveness remains limited due to intense entrance exam competition and high parental expectations. Regulatory measures on after-school tutoring and restrictions on exam frequency have been implemented, yet they have led to underground tutoring and increased family pressures.
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- 📰 Published: April 13, 2026 at 10:27
- 🔍 Collected: April 13, 2026 at 11:00 (33 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 13, 2026 at 11:03 (3 min after Collected)
April 13, 2026, 09:27 (Updated 09:58)
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China has introduced a series of policies such as "Double Reduction" in recent years to alleviate students' academic burden, but the effect has been minimal. (Illustrative image / Photo from Unsplash stock photo library) Recommended reading
In an authoritarian system like China's, theoretically, if the authorities order a reduction in student burden, all educational institutions nationwide should comply immediately. However, the existence of Gaokao (university entrance examination) and Zhongkao (high school entrance examination) instantly undermines the authority of such commands. This means that as long as these entrance examinations exist, it will be very difficult for Chinese students to fundamentally reduce their burden.
Why? Because the widespread parental desire for their children to "become a dragon or a phoenix" in China runs contrary to the official policy of "reducing student burden." The immense pressure to excel in exams has led to various forms of after-school tutoring in Chinese primary and secondary schools. These include those organized by schools, individual teachers, tutoring centers (equivalent to cram schools in Taiwan), and private lessons at teachers' homes or students' homes, varying in form.
These various after-school tutoring activities not only consume students' after-school time but also incur significant costs. Moreover, parents, in order to facilitate their children's tutoring, not only have to spend time chauffeuring them but also need to prepare a substantial sum of money, leading to physical and mental exhaustion for the entire family.
In fact, the Chinese authorities have not been oblivious to this phenomenon. As early as 1955, the government introduced its first directive to reduce the burden on primary and secondary school students after the establishment of the CCP regime, and similar directives were continuously issued over the decades, though mostly declarative in nature. In 2000, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued an "emergency notice" specifically for reducing the burden of primary school homework, proposing seven specific regulations, but with little success.
On August 22, 2018, the Chinese government issued "Opinions on Regulating the Development of Off-Campus Training Institutions," the first document by the Chinese government to regulate off-campus training institutions. In the same year, the government also issued the "Measures for Reducing the Burden on Primary and Secondary School Students," commonly known as the "30 Articles for Burden Reduction," which began to make specific demands for reducing academic burden on primary and secondary school students. However, the academic burden on primary and secondary school students across China did not decrease at all.
Under immense financial expenditure and psychological pressure, the saying "raising one child is harder than buying one house" became prevalent among the Chinese public, indirectly deterring many young couples from having children. This phenomenon alarmed CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping, leading to the launch of the momentous "Double Reduction" policy in 2021.
In May 2021, at the 19th meeting of the Central Comprehensively Deepening Reform Commission chaired by Xi Jinping, the "Opinions on Further Reducing the Burden of Homework and Off-Campus Training for Students in the Compulsory Education Stage (i.e., Double Reduction)" was adopted, establishing the principle of registering the entire tutoring industry as "non-profit institutions." On July 24 of the same year, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council officially issued this opinion.
According to this opinion, local governments across China will no longer approve new off-campus subject-based tutoring institutions. Existing institutions must uniformly register as non-profit organizations and are strictly prohibited from listing for financing or engaging in capitalized operations. Furthermore, they are prohibited from conducting subject-based training on national holidays, weekends, and winter/summer vacations, and training must not end later than 9 PM.
To consolidate the achievements of "Double Reduction," the Chinese authorities have continuously introduced reinforcing measures over the past five years. In September 2025, education departments across China ordered primary and secondary schools to stop adding new supplementary teaching materials, implementing a "one subject, one supplementary material" policy (recommending only one type of supplementary material per subject per semester for students' free use) to prevent students from being burdened by multiple materials and to prevent collusion between school personnel and publishers for profit.
In mid-December 2025, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued "Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Daily Examinations in Primary and Secondary Schools," proposing 7 key tasks and 20 specific measures, including "reducing examination frequency." Specifically, primary school grades 1 and 2 will not have written exams; other grades in compulsory education will have one final exam per semester; junior high school grades may have one midterm exam; and regular high schools must strictly control the number of exams.
As of April 3 this year, the Chinese Ministry of Education announced the launch of the "Sunshine Enrollment Special Action for Primary and Secondary Schools," strictly prohibiting all types of irregular admissions, including early admissions, over-quota admissions, and cross-regional admissions. It also strictly prohibits disguised early admissions under the guise of "intent registration," "pre-admission agreements," or "class guarantee agreements." Junior high and primary schools are strictly forbidden from setting up key classes, experimental classes, or fast/slow classes in disguise, and must promote balanced distribution of teachers and random class assignments for students.
However, the "Double Reduction" measures over the past five years first impacted the vast network of tutoring institutions across China, leading to the entire industry's stagnation and the immediate unemployment of a large number of practitioners. The authorities further utilized state resources to severely investigate and prosecute tutoring providers for illegal classes and admissions.
As a result, some tutoring teachers have scattered and secretly taken students to cafes, fast-food restaurants, or even cars for one-on-one lessons; or taught students at their own homes, or at students' homes. Before and after classes, these teachers also have to guard against "Chaoyang masses," who monitor suspicious individuals, reporting them to the authorities; on the other hand, student parents also have to help keep watch, making tutoring teachers feel like thieves during classes.
Many Chinese experts analyze that despite the official attempt to reduce academic burden on children with "Double Reduction," the fundamental problem lies in the unchanged college entrance examination competition mechanism, where educational resource allocation still highly depends on "scores." Losing irregular after-school tutoring means potentially losing "scores" in Zhongkao and Gaokao, making "Double Reduction" contradict the views of many parents. Secondly, although the Chinese authorities severely crack down on tutoring institutions, extracurricular tutoring has moved from the open to the underground.
Listen to News Facebook Line Copy Link
China has introduced a series of policies such as "Double Reduction" in recent years to alleviate students' academic burden, but the effect has been minimal. (Illustrative image / Photo from Unsplash stock photo library) Recommended reading
In an authoritarian system like China's, theoretically, if the authorities order a reduction in student burden, all educational institutions nationwide should comply immediately. However, the existence of Gaokao (university entrance examination) and Zhongkao (high school entrance examination) instantly undermines the authority of such commands. This means that as long as these entrance examinations exist, it will be very difficult for Chinese students to fundamentally reduce their burden.
Why? Because the widespread parental desire for their children to "become a dragon or a phoenix" in China runs contrary to the official policy of "reducing student burden." The immense pressure to excel in exams has led to various forms of after-school tutoring in Chinese primary and secondary schools. These include those organized by schools, individual teachers, tutoring centers (equivalent to cram schools in Taiwan), and private lessons at teachers' homes or students' homes, varying in form.
These various after-school tutoring activities not only consume students' after-school time but also incur significant costs. Moreover, parents, in order to facilitate their children's tutoring, not only have to spend time chauffeuring them but also need to prepare a substantial sum of money, leading to physical and mental exhaustion for the entire family.
In fact, the Chinese authorities have not been oblivious to this phenomenon. As early as 1955, the government introduced its first directive to reduce the burden on primary and secondary school students after the establishment of the CCP regime, and similar directives were continuously issued over the decades, though mostly declarative in nature. In 2000, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued an "emergency notice" specifically for reducing the burden of primary school homework, proposing seven specific regulations, but with little success.
On August 22, 2018, the Chinese government issued "Opinions on Regulating the Development of Off-Campus Training Institutions," the first document by the Chinese government to regulate off-campus training institutions. In the same year, the government also issued the "Measures for Reducing the Burden on Primary and Secondary School Students," commonly known as the "30 Articles for Burden Reduction," which began to make specific demands for reducing academic burden on primary and secondary school students. However, the academic burden on primary and secondary school students across China did not decrease at all.
Under immense financial expenditure and psychological pressure, the saying "raising one child is harder than buying one house" became prevalent among the Chinese public, indirectly deterring many young couples from having children. This phenomenon alarmed CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping, leading to the launch of the momentous "Double Reduction" policy in 2021.
In May 2021, at the 19th meeting of the Central Comprehensively Deepening Reform Commission chaired by Xi Jinping, the "Opinions on Further Reducing the Burden of Homework and Off-Campus Training for Students in the Compulsory Education Stage (i.e., Double Reduction)" was adopted, establishing the principle of registering the entire tutoring industry as "non-profit institutions." On July 24 of the same year, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council officially issued this opinion.
According to this opinion, local governments across China will no longer approve new off-campus subject-based tutoring institutions. Existing institutions must uniformly register as non-profit organizations and are strictly prohibited from listing for financing or engaging in capitalized operations. Furthermore, they are prohibited from conducting subject-based training on national holidays, weekends, and winter/summer vacations, and training must not end later than 9 PM.
To consolidate the achievements of "Double Reduction," the Chinese authorities have continuously introduced reinforcing measures over the past five years. In September 2025, education departments across China ordered primary and secondary schools to stop adding new supplementary teaching materials, implementing a "one subject, one supplementary material" policy (recommending only one type of supplementary material per subject per semester for students' free use) to prevent students from being burdened by multiple materials and to prevent collusion between school personnel and publishers for profit.
In mid-December 2025, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued "Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Daily Examinations in Primary and Secondary Schools," proposing 7 key tasks and 20 specific measures, including "reducing examination frequency." Specifically, primary school grades 1 and 2 will not have written exams; other grades in compulsory education will have one final exam per semester; junior high school grades may have one midterm exam; and regular high schools must strictly control the number of exams.
As of April 3 this year, the Chinese Ministry of Education announced the launch of the "Sunshine Enrollment Special Action for Primary and Secondary Schools," strictly prohibiting all types of irregular admissions, including early admissions, over-quota admissions, and cross-regional admissions. It also strictly prohibits disguised early admissions under the guise of "intent registration," "pre-admission agreements," or "class guarantee agreements." Junior high and primary schools are strictly forbidden from setting up key classes, experimental classes, or fast/slow classes in disguise, and must promote balanced distribution of teachers and random class assignments for students.
However, the "Double Reduction" measures over the past five years first impacted the vast network of tutoring institutions across China, leading to the entire industry's stagnation and the immediate unemployment of a large number of practitioners. The authorities further utilized state resources to severely investigate and prosecute tutoring providers for illegal classes and admissions.
As a result, some tutoring teachers have scattered and secretly taken students to cafes, fast-food restaurants, or even cars for one-on-one lessons; or taught students at their own homes, or at students' homes. Before and after classes, these teachers also have to guard against "Chaoyang masses," who monitor suspicious individuals, reporting them to the authorities; on the other hand, student parents also have to help keep watch, making tutoring teachers feel like thieves during classes.
Many Chinese experts analyze that despite the official attempt to reduce academic burden on children with "Double Reduction," the fundamental problem lies in the unchanged college entrance examination competition mechanism, where educational resource allocation still highly depends on "scores." Losing irregular after-school tutoring means potentially losing "scores" in Zhongkao and Gaokao, making "Double Reduction" contradict the views of many parents. Secondly, although the Chinese authorities severely crack down on tutoring institutions, extracurricular tutoring has moved from the open to the underground.