MOE warns against homeschooling in China, urges all children to receive compulsory public education
China's top education authority warned local government departments to pay special attention to homeschooled children on Wednesday, stressing that compulsory education cannot be replaced by any form of teaching.
All children in China must receive compulsory education and their parents, or guardians, should send them to school in time, says a document released on the website of Ministry of Education (MOE) on Wednesday.
Parents should apply and gain approval from their local education department if their child must drop out of school for reasons such as illness, said the document, warning that compulsory education cannot be replaced by homeschooling without permission.
As parents are increasingly turning to traditional Chinese methods to educate their children, local education departments have been told to attach high attention to private schools that use these methods, known as "sishu," the document stressed.
For those who drop out school without permission, it is the responsibility of schools and education authorities to persuade them to return.
In China, compulsory education covers at least nine years, five or six years of primary school and three to four years of middle school.
In 2015, net enrollment rates for the country's nine-year compulsory education was 93 percent, according to a white paper on development right released by the State Council in December 2016.
Meanwhile, home schooling has thrived in China, with children dropping out from school as more parents disagree with the education philosophy and methods of public schools.
According to a report released by the 21st Century Education Research Institute, about 18,000 children across the country received education at home in 2013, the Beijing Morning Post reported.
Some parents also send their children to private schools with traditional teaching methods, although the schools do not have officially approved curriculums.
