Recently, the Ministry of Education issued the Regulations on the Administration of Off-campus Training (Draft for Comments) (hereinafter referred to as the "Draft for Comments"), which elevates the governance experience of off-campus training to the level of laws and regulations. According to the overall deployment of the "double reduction" work, the burden reduction work should achieve remarkable results within 3 years of the implementation of the policy (that is, before the summer vacation of 2024), at this point in time, the drafting of the "Regulations on the Administration of Extracurricular Training" is not only an important milestone in promoting the rule of law in the governance of extracurricular training, but also has the special significance of consolidating the early achievements of the "double reduction" and leading the future policy direction, and is an important guarantee for the steady and far-reaching governance of extracurricular training.
Over the past two years, the deepening implementation of the "double reduction" policy has laid a solid foundation for the rule of law in the governance of off-campus training. The relevant policy documents of off-campus training have formed a three-dimensional policy network including comprehensive special policies, local policies and supporting cross-domain public policies (such as market supervision policies). In the face of such a huge policy network system, its effective traction depends on the establishment of underlying logic, value principles and policy tools, which are inseparable from the protection of special laws and regulations. The promulgation of the "Regulations on the Administration of Extracurricular Training" will effectively promote the rule of law in the governance of extracurricular training, and play a role in setting the direction, reassuring the people, and consolidating the fundamentals.
Set the direction: consolidate the achievements of off-campus training governance since the implementation of the "double reduction", and summarize and condense effective policies and grassroots practices into guiding principles for future policy formulation. The Draft for Comments establishes the principle of public welfare when characterizing off-campus training, and at the same time clarifies the basic positioning of off-campus training as a useful supplement to school education, thus establishing the development direction of off-campus training and school education complementing each other. In terms of fee management, special provisions have been made for the supervision of pre-fee fees for training institutions, which is an echo and sublimation of the "Interim Measures for the Financial Management of Off-campus Training Institutions". In terms of professional qualifications, it is clarified that the teaching and teaching and research personnel of academic off-campus training institutions should obtain teacher qualifications, which is the key positioning related to the identity attributes of practitioners.
Reassuring the people: ensuring the coherence and stability of the implementation of the "double reduction" policy will help all entities form stable expectations for the future policy direction. It is worth noting that immediately after the release of the Consultation Paper, the China Association for Non-Government Education issued a notice entitled "Do Not Misread the Regulations on the Administration of Extracurricular Training (Draft for Comments)", which is intended to emphasize that the purpose of the draft regulations is to promote the rule of law in the governance of extracurricular training, rather than to "tighten" or "liberalize" existing policies. This kind reminder of the association confirms the recent concern of the public about the stability of the implementation of the "double reduction" policy. It is not difficult to predict that the promulgation of the "Regulations on the Administration of Extracurricular Training" will bring a "reassurance" to institutions and parents.
Solid foundation: Clarifying the rights and obligations of all parties in the form of laws and regulations is conducive to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of all entities in the governance of off-campus training. As a pluralistic co-governance activity, the main body of off-campus training governance includes institutions, parents, students, schools, etc., in addition to administrative departments at all levels. In fact, the original intention of the "double reduction" is not to deny the educational value of off-campus training, nor to restrict the family's right to choose education, but to rectify the non-standard training behavior to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of all parties, especially families. Therefore, the Draft for Comments addresses the reasonable training needs of families, and encourages and supports various off-campus venues (institutes) such as children's palaces, science and technology museums, and museums to carry out off-campus training.
It is worth noting that although the Regulations on the Administration of Off-campus Training (Draft for Comments) use the word "management" in terms of textual expression, the underlying concept contained in it is the concept of "governance" of pluralistic co-governance. In the drafting notes of the Draft released by the Ministry of Education, the word "governance" appears as many as four times. The concept of education governance is the consistent value criterion of the "double reduction" policy from its inception to implementation, which emphasizes the integration of multiple value goals such as social justice, individual development and free choice, as well as the reconciliation of the contradictions and tensions between national supervision, education laws and market mechanisms. By constructing a structure, rules and tools for the governance of off-campus training, the Draft seeks to respond to the value demands of multiple subjects and reasonably regulate their interactions.
The author is an associate professor at the Center for Basic Education Governance and Innovation at South China Normal University
China Education Daily, 2024-02-20, 2nd edition
Author: Sunset.