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While the Chinese education system remains under the tight control of the Communist Party, the latter is increasingly involved in family education issues, to the point of judicializing parenthood. This supervision is not without consequences for families' educational strategies.
Interview with Manon Laurent*, sociologist at the Collège de France.
Since its inception, the modern Chinese education system has always been closely controlled by the state. Historically suspicious of the educated classes, Chinese educational policies have oscillated between the repression of intellectuals during the Cultural Revolution and the development of lectures, necessary for the economy, testifying to the state's careful management of education right up to the present day. According to Manon Laurent, this control has recently intensified, reflecting the government's desire to monitor not only public education, but also home education practices.
The government's renewed interest in education is said to be rooted in the recent rise in juvenile delinquency. The media coverage of the tragic murder of a 13 year-oldboyby his classmates in the northern province of Hebei in March 2024 illustrates public fears of a rise in delinquency among China'snine million children "left behind". "Behind the sometimes excessive media coverage of these events lies a more nuanced reality. However, we see many children being looked after by their grandparents. This lack of supervision is a real scourge in certain regions of China. So much so, in fact, that the term has been coined to describe them", explains Manon Laurent.
As far as the Chinese government is concerned, these incidents are caused by the failure of parents to educate their children. However, the rigidities of the People's Republic's administrative system seem to play an important role in this situation. China has a system of administrative registration of citizens in their province of birth. This obligation prevents many children from accessing schools in the metropolises where their parents work, because they come from rural areas, continues the researcher. China's economic dynamism is leading many rural dwellers to migrate to the big cities in the east in search of work. "The pace of work in these urban jobs leads families to leave their children in the care of their grandparents in their home regions. Parents who choose to take their children with them then face the impossibility of accessing public services such as health or education in their new city, as they are registered in another region", continues the researcher.
While adapting the education system to changes in society is nothing out of the ordinary, reforms usually focus on school curricula, the organization of working hours, pedagogy... more rarely on parental education. Yet 2021 saw the adoption of a new law on the promotion of family education that aims to monitor how parents educate their children at home, adding a new dimension to the state's grip on education.
The judicialization of parenthood
The enactment of this law marks a new stage in state interference in the private lives of citizens. Marginalized children have become a crucial issue for the government, which has seen in this problem a justification for intervening further in family affairs.
The law puts a lot of pressure on parents, "explains Manon Laurent. It creates support structures that range from the publication of manuals for parents to the creation of schools for parents, where they are trained in good educational practices". Although this obligation remains theoretical, it reflects the state's desire to normalize and standardize educational practices, even within the home. The government aims to combat juvenile delinquency by holding parents responsible for their children's actions. "It's a form of judicialization of parenthood", notes the sociologist, "parents are now considered responsible for the success or failure of their children".
This regulation is not without its reticence on the part of families. As the researcher explains: "China should not be imagined as a country free of protests, with many demonstrations taking place every week on a variety of issues. When we interview them, we find that families implement educational strategies that play with regulations".
Parental resistance
Strict supervision is not the only distinctive feature of the Chinese education system, which is also renowned for its rigorous standards. Faced with fierce economic competition for the best jobs, Chinese parents develop sophisticated strategies to ensure their children's success. These strategies include circumventing the school map, for example by buying apartments located in the areas of the best schools, or obtaining letters of recommendation to gain access to prized establishments. "Parents invest millions of yuan, or hundreds of thousands of euros, to buy apartments that match their school strategy", explains Manon Laurent, pointing out the impact of these practices on the variation in property market prices in certain cities. We notice that the highest house prices are correlated with applications to certain prestigious schools. Certain properties are referred to as education apartments, as they are the key to accessing these institutions .
However, these strategies do not always guarantee the desired results."What do we do if, despite all these strategies, we don't obtain the desired quality of education?" she asks. This is a crucial question in a context where the state is seeking to reduce the pressure of schooling, a policy opposed by many parents. Fearing that their children will not enjoy the same rise in living standards that they have enjoyed, parents are contesting these measures and seeking to influence their implementation."Parents blame the government for the fact that this reduction in school pressure simply shifts the responsibility for success onto them", concludes the researcher.
Behind these upheavals lies the other major challenge facing China's education system: mental health. It is estimated that almost a quarter of secondary school students in China suffer from depressive symptoms due to educational pressure.
*Manon Laurent is a researcher at the Sociology of Creative Work chairheld by Prof. Pierre-Michel Menger.
