Record: Xiaoming Sheng, “Home Education and Law in China” in Education and Urban Society 50, no. 6 (2018): 575-592 [available here]
Summary: Xiaoming Sheng, Ph.D., analyzes the legal status of home education in China. Though homeschooling is not supported by Chinese law, there has been a recent increase of home educating families in parts of China such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. Sheng explains the Compulsory Education Law of the People’s Republic of China through quoting and providing commentary of the sections relevant to home education. The law defines a nine-year compulsory education system in which parents and/or legal guardians are expected to ensure that all school-age students go to school to receive a complete education in line with Chinese standards. Any parent/guardian who forces children to leave or quit school will have legal action taken against her or him.
Sheng then summarizes home education policy within Western countries such as the United States, Canada, multiple countries in Europe, and Australia. Then she summarizes home education policy in East Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
According to Sheng, there is no specific law against homeschooling; however, it is considered “illegal” as it appears to violate the Compulsory Education Law. There was a home education program in China called the Meng Mu Tang, but it was shut down as it violated Items 2, 4, and 35 of the law. Items 2 and 4 of the law require parents to send their children to school. Item 35 requires that students receive an approved curriculum, teaching content, and educational setting. Meng Mu Tang violated these standards as they did not apply for permission to run a school and taught a curriculum that was different than the government provided. Sheng has previously written a more detailed history of the Meng Mu Tang sector, which is available here.
However, there are some parent groups who are fighting against this regulation of compulsory education, claiming that it violates their rights stated in the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Minors. This law states that minors have a right to an education that should be safeguarded by parents and/or guardians. Parent groups have used this to argue the point that the current education system does not meet their standards and therefore that home educating their children is how the parents will safeguard their children’s education.
Due to the regulations stated in the Compulsory Education Law, it appears as though homeschooling is illegal in China. However, different parent groups and home educating sectors have been able to find loopholes that have contributed to the rise of home education in China.
Appraisal: This review provided a great insight into the law of education in China and provided clear explanations about what each section of the law implied. The conclusions were unclear as to whether or not home education is or is not legal in China, but it appears that is the point. Because there is not a specific law prohibiting homeschooling in China, it is not explicitly illegal. That being said, there is not a specific law permitting the practice either.
Though the comparison between home education around the world and in China could have been good supporting evidence, an explicit connection was never made. Sheng thoroughly explained home education policy in each continent and expanded, as needed, with specific countries. However, this section felt out of place in the review, as it was never explained what the relationship was between these countries and policy in China. Were they included to provided examples and non-examples? To see a global change regarding homeschooling? The reasoning is unclear.
In addition, Sheng stated on multiple occasions that homeschooling was on the rise in China; however, no specific statistics or figures were included to support this point. It would have benefited her point to include some form of specific evidence to show that the homeschooling movement was having the effect that she observed in China. A previous article written by Zheng Guo-Ping in 2014 provided specific estimates regarding the increase of home education in China. Zheng claimed that recent years had seen a rapid rise of close to 200 Chinese homeschooling associations. Zheng estimated that there might be close to 18,000 children being homeschooled despite the practice being considered illegal by many. It is nice to see Sheng publishing again on homeschooling in China, but I wish she had more data about what’s been happening since 2014.
Marissa Donlevie, Messiah College