How China’s tightening rules for private tutoring affect foreign teachers
Move could affect tens of thousands of foreign tutors overseas
A leading private education agency in China announced over the weekend the suspension of courses administered by foreign-based tutors, as the company moves to comply with new regulations for the private tutoring sector, which could affect tens of thousands of overseas-based teachers, as more companies move in a similar direction, analysts said on Sunday.

VIPKID, a Chinese one-on-one English tutoring agency backed by Tencent, said on its official Wechat account on Saturday that the agency would stop selling online classes taught by foreign-based tutors to comply with a series of measures released by the central government in July, which has banned teachers based overseas from conducting any training activity in China.

The company said that new packages taught by foreign-based tutors would be removed starting from Saturday, and existing customers could still take previously purchased classes but will not be able to renew classes taught by tutors based overseas starting on Monday.

The strict ban may affect many foreign-based English teachers especially as several Chinese online education platforms have been quick to begin downsizing.

The number of the affected is significant. VIPKID has more than 70,000 foreign tutors from North America, according to its official website. 51Talk, another Chinese online education platform, said that the company has empowered over 20,000 Filipinos to provide an online learning experience for young Chinese learners.

51Talk also recently began large-scale layoffs, the 21st Century Business Herald reported in July, while VIPKID has been laying off staff for several months, a Beijing-based employee from the company told the Global Times on Sunday.

"This is a game changer for me and my family. I've taught online ESL for almost four years. It's a big blow to my heart as much as our finances," a tweeter user from North Carolina in the US, who claimed that she has taught online English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, commented on the news on Sunday.

Many more tutors could also be affected, as tutoring agencies removing class packages taught by foreign-based tutors becomes a new normal, Chu Chaohui, a research fellow at China's National Institute of Education Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Chu said that the sales of the non-compulsory curriculum as a service product would decrease as the result of the regulations, adding that the foreign-based tutors' workload therefore will decline. While most of foreign-based tutors working for Chinese education online platforms work part time, there are also some full-time tutors, Chu noted.

Analysts said that the new regulations are necessary because of problems in the private tutoring sector, including the online English tutoring services provided by overseas teachers.

There have been rising concerns among students and parents over the qualification of foreign-based tutors, especially after 2020, as many Chinese parents began applying for online English language classes for their children due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the resulting closure of schools.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1230903.shtml

Under the pretense of clearing clowns out of the industry and lightening the burden of extra-curricular classes on students, China has effectively eliminated another platform by which their citizens may hear something other than the official narrative. Maybe it's less sinister and only a ploy to keep Chinese money in house. Either way, it's a bit of a bummer. The TEFL scene could use a bit more quality assurance, but it's a damn shame for so many folks (many of them qualified) to be handed their notice at this point in a never-ending pandemic.

A bunch of ppl in Kampot will be devastated

A way to be fired that tells a lot about the needs of each parts.

Question. ,Will this result in more Chinese students going overseas to study. [ English ] Will the Chinese government even let those students go overseas to study . [ computer programing as on their application form ]

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 2:59 pm Simon43 in Laos :
ur fucked now
so the platform will be the one who will stop allowing students to be taught by foreigners?

Wont those currently teaching online merely contact their students, explain the situation and arrange direct payment?

I'm not sure how well that would work. Online tutoring with these companies is usually done without personal contact information. Last I remember, teachers aren't allowed to share personal details of any sort, and these sessions are now recorded/monitored. I'm sure that some families will arrange for their children to have tutoring sessions, but with the Great Firewall and the panopticon they've got going with the social credit system....it might not be worth the trouble.

Chinese tutoring schools scramble for loopholes as top-tier firm Wall Street English collapses amid crackdown
Wall Street English, one of China’s wealthiest English tutoring companies, is expected to file for bankruptcy next week
Private institutions are scrambling to offer services that comply with new regulations

One of the world’s most highly-respected and wealthiest English-language tutoring companies is on the verge of collapse, an apparent casualty of the central government’s crackdown on private education institutions.
Wall Street English, an Italian company that entered China in 2000, is expected to announce its bankruptcy next week, according to a report in yicai.com.
At its peak, it employed 3,000 staff at 71 locations in 11 cities in China.

The report quoted an anonymous member of staff as saying that the company, which focuses mainly on adults, had laid off staff and closed centres because of the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The person said the recent crackdown on private tutoring was the “last straw”.
The State Council, China’s top administrative body, cracked down on the private tutoring industry on July 24. The government forced these companies to register as non-profit organisations, banned approvals for new companies and made it illegal for them to receive foreign investment.
It also banned tutoring during weekends, public holidays and school holidays.

In early August, the tech giant ByteDance closed its education platforms, including Guagua Long, Qingbei and GoGoKid, and laid off all its staff working for them, according to Bloomberg.

In the immediate aftermath of the crackdown, companies across China have been grasping at loopholes to stay afloat.
A marketing executive named Chuxin, a pseudonym, who works for TAL Education Group, a leading K-12 after-school tutoring services provider in China, said they are altering their content to respond to government policies. The changes included teaching children only on weekdays, never on weekends and using recorded tutoring videos.

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-cultur ... pholes-top

Cam.O'Dear wrote: ↑Thu Aug 12, 2021 4:23 pm Question. ,Will this result in more Chinese students going overseas to study. [ English ] Will the Chinese government even let those students go overseas to study . [ computer programing as on their application form ]

It will probably prevent students going overseas to study.

When I was in China I was teaching students who were preparing to sit an IELTS exam, which if you haven't heard of it is a test many countries use as part of a visa requirement for things like student visas. If you want to go to a foreign country to study, chances are you'll need to have an IELTS certificate or equivalent to show a level of English proficiency.

It's the training schools doing the IELTS prep, often starting with students from a young age.