Recently, in Nangong, Xingtai City, Hebei Province, a privately-run school named “Fengyi Primary School” abruptly shut down, sparking over a thousand parents to gather at the city government in protest. This incident is a microcosm of the social impacts brought about by the tightening of policies on private education in China in recent years.
On May 11, Fengyi Primary School located in the economic development zone of Nangong City was suspected to be forcibly closed, triggering large-scale protests from parents. The school is part of the Fengyi Education Group which covers multiple education stages.
According to a video posted by an overseas social media account “Yesterday,” a large number of parents gathered in front of the Nangong City government building, chanting slogans like “disagree” and “leaders come out,” demanding the revocation of the closure decision, or at least ensuring that current students can graduate smoothly. Witnesses stated that the protest continued late into the night, with the government deploying a large number of police for security and implementing traffic controls in the surrounding areas, including turning off the government square’s lighting.
The following day, parents continued to gather in protest.
Radio Free Asia reported that an unnamed parent stated on May 15 that Fengyi Primary School had a good reputation locally, and many parents obtained admission through public lotteries. The sudden closure caught them off guard. Due to issues like chaotic management and unstable faculty in the public schools where students were supposed to be transferred to, parents generally could not accept this decision: “Over a thousand parents protested to the city government this time. They (the government) are too much. Seeing that the school has high educational quality, parents with financial means sent their children to Fengyi Primary School, and now they want to shut it down.”
An employee at the Fengyi school office acknowledged the protest incident but emphasized they belong to the secondary school department and were not familiar with the primary school’s affairs.
An official from the Nangong City government responded to a query by Radio Free Asia on May 15, confirming the occurrence of “a few days ago where over a thousand parents protested.” The official stated that the “issue has been resolved” and that “Fengyi Primary School will not be closed.” However, when asked about the number of parents and specific handling plans, the official claimed to be “unaware of the situation.”
The Nangong City Education Bureau office has yet to respond.
In recent years, with education resources in China concentrating on private schools, high-quality private schools have been favored by parents. However, to narrow the quality gap between public and private education, various local governments have successively introduced policies restricting the development of private education. In the past few years, in terms of scale, the number of private compulsory education schools and the number of students enrolled have shown a downward trend.
The “National Education Development Statistical Bulletin 2023” issued by China’s Ministry of Education on October 24 last year revealed that the total number of private schools nationwide had decreased by over 20,000 in the past four years, with more than 11,000 fewer schools in 2023 alone. Among them, the number of private schools in the compulsory education stage decreased by 425, with over 1.34 million fewer students enrolled.
Jia Lingmin, a retired teacher from Zhengzhou, Henan, told Radio Free Asia that closing private schools could increase the enrollment numbers in public schools: “Due to low birth rates, many public schools in county towns and townships cannot attract students and have to close down, leading to principals and teachers in public schools becoming unemployed. Currently, private schools have high-quality education and a good learning environment, so many parents are willing to send their children there.”