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In July the central authorities issued new guidelines to reduce the excessive burden of homework and after-school tutoring on students. The guidelines， also known as the “double reduction” policy， apply to all students in the compulsory education stage. According to the policy， curriculum-based after-school training institutions are not allowed to teach during national holidays， weekends or winter and summer vacations. As a result， students have more time to participate in sports， and sports training institutions are gaining momentum.
In Chongqing Municipality， the father of a grade three primary school student surnamed Zeng previously took his son to study at several curriculum-based training institutions each weekend， which both found exhausting. Now， after the implementation of the new policy， his son no longer attends the training institutions on the weekends and Zeng takes him to learn how to play basketball every Sunday afternoon.
Zeng told Shangyou News， a local news portal， that he had previously been busier on weekends than on weekdays， but after the implementation of the policy， he and his son now have time for basketball， which is one of his son’s favorite sports.
As the number of children signing up for sports training increases， so does the diversity of sports they are enjoying. Baseball， fencing and equestrian are also becoming more fashionable， in addition to more common sports such as football and basketball.
Physical fitness is an increasingly important criterion in evaluating students’ performance in school， and physical education （PE） tests have been made part of the high school entrance exam or zhongkao. In a press conference on September 3， the Ministry of Education announced the weight of the PE exam scores in high school admission will be gradually increased to match that of Chinese， mathematics and English.
The move aims to improve the health of teenagers， which has caught the authorities’ attention in recent years. According to statistics published by the National Health Commission in July last year， the rate of myopia， or nearsightedness， among children and teenagers reached 52.7 percent in 2020. In the same year， the percentage of overweight or obese children reached nearly 20 percent for those aged between 6 and 17， and over 10 percent for those aged under 6. Sports are regarded as an effective way to prevent both myopia and obesity. Also， more and more parents have realized that although Chinese， mathematics and English are important， children’s health is more so and should come first.
Wang Xueli， Director of the Sports Industry Development Research Center at Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management， told Xinhua News Agency that as household income has increased， many parents are more aware of the importance of sports and art education， and are willing to pay for students’ wellrounded development.
Besides， higher PE scores will give students an edge in the high school entrance exam. Although PE is included in high school entrance testing， it does not count as part of the curriculum-based training targeted by the “double reduction” policy.
At a stadium in Beijing’s Dongcheng District， seven children are practicing jump rope after school. A resident surnamed Li said， “I want her to improve her physical wellbeing and be better prepared for PE exams at school， which include jumping rope.”
A resident surnamed Hu sent her daughter to an after-school program to train in volleyball and running.“Since she no longer has English classes during the weekend， I increased her after-school PE classes from one to two per week，” she said. “Now that the new policy has given her more free time， I want her to improve her physical fitness to get prepared for the high school entrance exam.”
In Beijing， a strength training institution for children between 3 and 12 years old has seen its students increase significantly since the start of the new semester in early September. The institution received 590 new students at the beginning of the semester， up from 300 during the same period last year.
“We train the children in basic physical activities such as running， climbing and jumping. Each class， lasting for one hour， involves a large amount of exercise and trains the children’s willpower，” a teacher from the institution surnamed Kong told Beijing Evening News.
Even before the unveiling of the “double reduction” policy， the sports education and training industry had seen remarkable growth. According to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics at the end of 2020， the gross output value of the industry for that year was 190.9 billion yuan （$29.5 billion）， while the figure for 2015 was only 24.7 billion yuan （$3.8 billion）. Data from Qcc.com， an enterprise credit inquiry system platform， showed that 48，000 sports training enterprises were registered in the first half of this year， up 108.7 percent year on year. The industry is expected to grow much more briskly following the policy. Some large training institutions that have until now focused on curriculum-based training are also getting into sports training. One of the first among these was education giant New Oriental. The company’s branch in Qingdao， Shandong Province， announced the introduction of sports courses on July 23， and its branch in Tianjin Municipality followed suit on August 6. Top tutoring firm TAL Education Group is also seeking to enter the sports training market， with its subsidiaries in Shenzhen， Guangdong Province， and Ningbo， Zhejiang Province， both launching their sports training programs in July.
Wang said the regulation of the industry is inadequate to keep up with its rapid development.
“Relevant government departments should strengthen the certification and approval of sports training institutions， as well as the certification of coaches，” said Xu Wenxin， a professor with the School of Physical Education and Sports Science at Fujian Normal University.
Moreover， sports training institutions have been found to sell packages of 60， 90 or even 120 sessions at a time. Regulators should monitor the practice to prevent the risk of institutions closing down and running off with the money. BR
In Chongqing Municipality， the father of a grade three primary school student surnamed Zeng previously took his son to study at several curriculum-based training institutions each weekend， which both found exhausting. Now， after the implementation of the new policy， his son no longer attends the training institutions on the weekends and Zeng takes him to learn how to play basketball every Sunday afternoon.
Zeng told Shangyou News， a local news portal， that he had previously been busier on weekends than on weekdays， but after the implementation of the policy， he and his son now have time for basketball， which is one of his son’s favorite sports.
As the number of children signing up for sports training increases， so does the diversity of sports they are enjoying. Baseball， fencing and equestrian are also becoming more fashionable， in addition to more common sports such as football and basketball.
Shifting focus
For a long time in China， there has been an overemphasis on academic test scores， as the scores are the overarching criteria for entrance into institutions of higher learning. Now， the country is seeking to look beyond scores and nurture well-rounded students with high moral standards， physical fitness， art literacy as well as work ethics and skills.Physical fitness is an increasingly important criterion in evaluating students’ performance in school， and physical education （PE） tests have been made part of the high school entrance exam or zhongkao. In a press conference on September 3， the Ministry of Education announced the weight of the PE exam scores in high school admission will be gradually increased to match that of Chinese， mathematics and English.
The move aims to improve the health of teenagers， which has caught the authorities’ attention in recent years. According to statistics published by the National Health Commission in July last year， the rate of myopia， or nearsightedness， among children and teenagers reached 52.7 percent in 2020. In the same year， the percentage of overweight or obese children reached nearly 20 percent for those aged between 6 and 17， and over 10 percent for those aged under 6. Sports are regarded as an effective way to prevent both myopia and obesity. Also， more and more parents have realized that although Chinese， mathematics and English are important， children’s health is more so and should come first.
Wang Xueli， Director of the Sports Industry Development Research Center at Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management， told Xinhua News Agency that as household income has increased， many parents are more aware of the importance of sports and art education， and are willing to pay for students’ wellrounded development.
Besides， higher PE scores will give students an edge in the high school entrance exam. Although PE is included in high school entrance testing， it does not count as part of the curriculum-based training targeted by the “double reduction” policy.
At a stadium in Beijing’s Dongcheng District， seven children are practicing jump rope after school. A resident surnamed Li said， “I want her to improve her physical wellbeing and be better prepared for PE exams at school， which include jumping rope.”
A resident surnamed Hu sent her daughter to an after-school program to train in volleyball and running.“Since she no longer has English classes during the weekend， I increased her after-school PE classes from one to two per week，” she said. “Now that the new policy has given her more free time， I want her to improve her physical fitness to get prepared for the high school entrance exam.”
In Beijing， a strength training institution for children between 3 and 12 years old has seen its students increase significantly since the start of the new semester in early September. The institution received 590 new students at the beginning of the semester， up from 300 during the same period last year.
“We train the children in basic physical activities such as running， climbing and jumping. Each class， lasting for one hour， involves a large amount of exercise and trains the children’s willpower，” a teacher from the institution surnamed Kong told Beijing Evening News.
New opportunities
Ma Liang， a researcher with the National Academy of Development and Strategy at Renmin University of China， told Xinhua News Agency that the sports training industry will embrace new development opportunities brought on by students’ increased free time， as well as the bigger spending power of families who now spend far less on curriculum-based training.Even before the unveiling of the “double reduction” policy， the sports education and training industry had seen remarkable growth. According to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics at the end of 2020， the gross output value of the industry for that year was 190.9 billion yuan （$29.5 billion）， while the figure for 2015 was only 24.7 billion yuan （$3.8 billion）. Data from Qcc.com， an enterprise credit inquiry system platform， showed that 48，000 sports training enterprises were registered in the first half of this year， up 108.7 percent year on year. The industry is expected to grow much more briskly following the policy. Some large training institutions that have until now focused on curriculum-based training are also getting into sports training. One of the first among these was education giant New Oriental. The company’s branch in Qingdao， Shandong Province， announced the introduction of sports courses on July 23， and its branch in Tianjin Municipality followed suit on August 6. Top tutoring firm TAL Education Group is also seeking to enter the sports training market， with its subsidiaries in Shenzhen， Guangdong Province， and Ningbo， Zhejiang Province， both launching their sports training programs in July.
Regulation required
Accompanying the rise in popularity of sports training is the rise in prices of relevant courses. Hu said the price of the volleyball training her daughter attends has risen from 2，000 yuan （$309） to 2，500 yuan （$386） for 10 classes.Wang said the regulation of the industry is inadequate to keep up with its rapid development.
“Relevant government departments should strengthen the certification and approval of sports training institutions， as well as the certification of coaches，” said Xu Wenxin， a professor with the School of Physical Education and Sports Science at Fujian Normal University.
Moreover， sports training institutions have been found to sell packages of 60， 90 or even 120 sessions at a time. Regulators should monitor the practice to prevent the risk of institutions closing down and running off with the money. BR