My son is set to start elementary school this September. Previously, I hadn’t paid much attention to education, but recently, I took a systematic look at the current state of primary and secondary education. Along the way, I consulted many friends, uncovered quite a few insider details, and developed some rough opinions about my children’s future education.

On School Selection

Three years ago, when my daughter was about to start elementary school, I briefly researched the local primary and secondary education landscape.

Many Families Seek Schools Outside Their District

The quality of basic education in my area is relatively poor. In the past, most local parents who had the means would buy property and register their household in a neighboring district to enroll their children there.

However, the distance to these schools is usually over 30 kilometers, with the shortest being around 20 kilometers.

For average families, this option is hardly feasible unless they have ample time. Moreover, these school district homes are typically much more expensive than local properties.

In fact, the exodus of resourceful parents willing to invest in education has led to a significant outflow of top-tier educational resources from our district, making it difficult to improve the overall quality of basic education here.

After all, education is a collaborative effort between schools and families. If capable families send their children elsewhere, the learning environment for those who remain inevitably suffers.

The Poor Quality of Local Public Education

After consulting numerous friends in the education sector, the consensus is clear: the teaching standards at local public primary and secondary schools are subpar, lagging far behind the average levels in certain other districts of the city.

A recurring issue is that many local teachers have adopted a “lying flat” attitude, lacking confidence in their teaching. Since public school teachers face no consequences whether they teach well or poorly, and many don’t even enroll their own children locally, the entire system seems to be “slacking off.”

However, this view isn’t entirely fair. I’ve learned that recent local education policies actually encourage teachers to keep their children in local schools—though this only applies to those hired after the policy was implemented. If even this fails, then the “slacking off” is truly beyond remedy.

Some Improvement in Local Private Education

To my surprise, before 2015, there were virtually no private primary or secondary schools here. The only one that claimed to be private was actually publicly funded—built by the government, staffed by public teachers, but managed like a private institution with tuition fees. Later, it reverted to being fully public.

After 2015, during the real estate boom, several group-run private schools were introduced. Some of these schools now outperform their peers and even rival top-tier schools in the city.

This is why, three years ago, I ultimately decided to enroll my daughter in a private school. That said, its tuition fees are among the highest in the city.

Dilemmas in This Year’s School Selection

Three years ago, when my daughter was starting school, the dismal state of public education made private school an obvious choice.

But now, local public schools have shown some improvement, thanks to heavy investments in new facilities. Some even collaborate with top-ranked public schools in the city.

This left me torn over whether to send my son to a public school. After all, public education is free, whereas nine years of private schooling is a significant financial burden.

However, this dilemma vanished after the “lottery enrollment” process.

The school, touted as the best public option in the district and the hope of the local education community, admitted students purely by lottery. For in-district applicants, the odds were roughly 2.5:1, while out-of-district applicants faced a 9:1 ratio.

Unfortunately, my son didn’t win the lottery, so he’ll be joining his sister at the same private school.

On the Issue of Educational Over-Competition (“Involution”)

Last weekend, my wife invited the school principal and his wife for a gathering. The principal’s wife is from the same hometown as my mother-in-law, and over time, we’ve grown close.

Seizing the opportunity, I asked the principal about some current educational trends.

Overzealous Parents

My daughter just finished third grade. This semester, several classmates transferred to schools in neighboring districts.

Their parents shared the same reason: they felt the current school was too lax.

My wife often complains about parents in the class WeChat group “accusing” the school of not being competitive enough.

Other schools teach 14 Chinese language classes per week, but here, it’s only seven.

Other schools have long canceled “non-core” subjects like music and art, but this school still devotes half the day to them.

Many parents enroll their children in cram schools, packing weekends with extra classes.

My wife estimates that at least half the mothers in our daughter’s class don’t work outside the home.

These “tiger moms” monitor the class group 24/7, some even buying homes near the school to appear at the gates the moment classes end. Their entire lives revolve around their children’s education.

To ordinary parents like us, these hyper-competitive “tiger moms” are exhausting.

The principal finds this group challenging too.

He shared examples of parents with minimal education—some not even finishing middle school—who, after marrying well, develop inflated self-importance and love stirring up drama.

One parent cursed out the teacher and principal in group chats because their child’s test scores dropped slightly.

Thankfully, the principal resolved these issues, but parental “involution” seems unstoppable.

Personally, I’ve never been a fan of educational over-competition. I coasted through school without much pressure and don’t want my kids burdened either. Just do your best—no need for excessive stress.

Pointless Over-Competition

Last year, our district introduced a “Junior Academy of Sciences” program.

From what I gather, its goal is to groom students for national STEM Olympiads. Making the national training team virtually guarantees admission to Tsinghua or Peking University.

But nationwide, only about 200 students make the training team annually. Guangdong Province might secure 20 spots, and even expanding to the “gold/silver medalist” list (eligible for the “Strong Foundation” program), the province caps at around 200.

Our city would be lucky to claim 10% of those.

In other words, to chase 2–3 Tsinghua/Peking slots and 20–30 “Strong Foundation” spots, the entire city’s students are being pushed into this rat race. I fail to see how this benefits average families.

Yet countless families pour energy and money into this futile competition.

Over-Competitive Schools

As mentioned earlier, many schools now trap students in a vicious cycle of grade obsession, ditching “non-core” subjects as early as second or third grade to focus solely on Chinese, math, and English.

They mask poor teaching with brute-force repetition: “See? We’re already teaching 14 Chinese classes a week. If grades don’t improve, maybe we’ll raise it to 20?”

Endless drills exhaust children, with zero regard for their mental or physical health.

They treat issues like depression as statistical outliers, pushing kids to the brink under the mantra: “If competition doesn’t kill you, compete harder.”

This approach reflects administrative directives.

In regions with weak basic education, the blame falls squarely on education authorities.

But bureaucratic thinking is reactive—treating symptoms, not causes.

If teachers underperform, replace them. If replacements are scarce, pool the best teachers into one school.

If student quality is low, double down on rote teaching: one lesson not mastered? Teach it twice, thrice.

If students can’t swallow the material, force-feed them until they choke.

I also learned of an absurd policy: to counter “student quality deficits,” education officials proposed forcibly assigning the district’s top few hundred middle-school applicants to a single school.

On Education Management

I never deeply understood education management before, though I often heard the saying, “A train’s speed depends on its engine.” Many believe a school’s quality hinges largely on its principal.

The Principal’s Role in School Management

Initially, I was skeptical of this view. Blindly accepting it would legitimize the administrative control over education.

But after multiple interactions with this principal, I’ve come to see its validity.

A key factor is that administrative influence is inescapable in today’s education system—even the national framework is deeply bureaucratic.

In this context, no school is immune, making the principal’s role critical.

In fact, this principal has several traits I deeply admire:

1. Decisiveness

This is most evident in faculty management.

My daughter’s class changed homeroom teachers once in three years.

I had no issues with the previous teacher, but the principal revealed she had “minor flaws,” like delayed responses to parent messages in group chats.

The principal adopted a “zero tolerance” policy, firing her outright.

At first, I was shocked. Why such drastic measures for minor issues?

Then I learned the full story.

The “minor flaws” were just the surface. Parents complained that after-school pickups often involved 20–30 minute waits with no updates from the teacher, breeding frustration.

Such grievances, even if isolated, could tarnish the school’s reputation.

Low parent ratings hurt the entire staff’s performance metrics. As a privately run school, it answers not just to parents but also investors and its corporate umbrella.

Even if parents drop complaints, the school must preempt risks. A teacher’s delayed response during an emergency could spell disaster.

This “risk-control” approach to firings is a key difference between private and public schools.

The principal shared other dismissal cases:

• A teacher fired for arguing with a parent in a group chat after others reported it.
• A male teacher dismissed for “unnecessary physical contact” (patting a girl’s shoulder) after parent complaints.
• A rookie teacher who aced the interview and demo lesson but slacked off later, causing grade drops.
• A dorm supervisor fired for storing damp laundry, leading to mold.

Such strict management impressed me.

Compared to public teachers’ “iron rice bowl” job security, private schools’ “ruthless” standards are worlds apart.

Local education corruption cases in recent years have been shocking, yet punishments are often light—written warnings, demotions, or transfers to cushy roles for those with tenure.

While such “problem” teachers are few, private schools’ “scorched earth” accountability wins parent trust.

2. Dedication

Interacting with the principal, I’ve been struck by his and his team’s work ethic.

He knows all 1,000+ students by name and their family backgrounds.

I drop my daughter off at 7:20 AM and pick her up at 8:30 PM—his car is always there.

He jokes about having no off-hours, as his own child boards at the school. He’s the first to arrive and last to leave.

Among my 100+ WeChat groups, my daughter’s class group tops storage usage.

Teachers meticulously document all 30+ students daily, never missing one.

Once, I glimpsed the principal’s phone—he’s in every school-related group, spending half his time monitoring them.

Indeed, I often see him active in class, bus, and club groups, omnipresent in school life.

Food safety is hyper-transparent: principals and teachers eat the same meals as students, with all ingredients and dishes posted daily for parent oversight.

This “ubiquitous” management style permeates the school’s culture.

The principal sets the tone.

3. Subtle Influence

Years ago, at a school appreciation dinner, I met parent committee members, including local celebrities.

One standout was a high-profile influencer whose rebellious son transferred in after being expelled elsewhere.

The boy’s antics initially infuriated teachers and parents, many demanding his removal.

The principal stepped in, reportedly reforming him in two days.

I don’t recall his methods, but the story stuck with me.

Having long admired the influencer’s work, I was moved by his candidness about family struggles.

His words that night resonated: “Scientific education can change a child’s destiny.”

I’ve never doubted this school’s academics. As the principal puts it, it leads the district in tailored education and academic results.

Having attended a private high school myself, I’ve always valued their student-centric approach.

My alma mater, now the county’s flagship school, outperforms all public peers in primary/secondary education, with unmatched elite high school admission rates.

Though its high school division trails the county’s top public school, it has produced 10+ Tsinghua/Peking admits in recent years, including this year’s provincial top-five science scorer—a remarkable feat given its weaker student intake.

Their “playbook” emphasizes nurturing innate potential. Even in my ragtag class 20 years ago, many defied their expected downward trajectories post-graduation.

The Impact of Administrative Management on Education

I’ve long criticized local education administration, as noted in a past article:

1. Minors’ Mental Health Issues Demand Urgent Attention

(These problems) boil down to schools shirking educational responsibilities. For instance, when dealing with a mischievous 6-year-old, instead of guiding the child, schools reflexively summon parents or suggest transfers to avoid accountability. If every school dodges responsibility, where can “difficult” children go?

My biases against public schools include:

• The “iron rice bowl” system equalizes pay regardless of performance, incentivizing laziness.
• Public schools prioritize checking boxes over excellence, adhering rigidly to standardized curricula.

*(Translation note: The last sentence is truncated in the original text.)*Here’s the translation of the provided text into English:

1. The Unyielding Reality of Public Education

Public schools operate mechanically: teachers deliver the assigned curriculum without concern for whether students grasp the material—their job ends with completing the lessons. Additionally, bureaucratic tendencies are rampant in public schools, where pleasing superiors takes precedence over practical outcomes. Parents often complain about the performative formalities imposed by public schools to meet inspections—constantly signing responsibility forms, absurd dress codes for parent meetings (e.g., white shirts and black pants), and being treated like subordinates in class group chats. Minor issues frequently escalate into summoning parents to school.

2. The Fragility of Middle School Education

Frankly, from my perspective, there’s no perfect solution to issues like school bullying. The best we can do is raise awareness of its severity and help minors develop self-protection skills. Crucially, fostering harmony between parents, teachers, and schools is vital—letting professionals handle their roles with patience, rather than fueling conflicts. Adult tensions inevitably exacerbate tensions among minors.

I’ve interacted with many working in educational administration and understand their constraints. For instance, early in my career, I encountered an absurd policy: a newly appointed principal from a prestigious school launched a “teacher recruitment drive” targeting top-tier normal universities. Local educators, legislators, and even political advisors resisted, calling it a “betrayal of local job opportunities.” This protectionist mindset reflects the region’s educational stagnation. The policy was scrapped within a year, only to revive years later—too late to compete in the nationwide talent war.

Another issue is systemic bias against private education. Public schools monopolize top students to boost performance metrics, but this accelerates student outflow. In local exams, public schools collude to exclude private schools from joint test-setting, yet still underperform. Meanwhile, education authorities aggressively restrict private school enrollment quotas—a baffling lag for a region once at the forefront of reform. Even in my rural hometown, private schools had emerged by 2000.

When discussing education, officials and public-school teachers unanimously blame “brain drain” for failures. This excuse has become a reflexive mantra. In my hometown, despite one elite high school skimming the best students, others still produced Tsinghua and Peking University admits—proof that “poor student quality” is a cop-out. Squashing successful private schools to save face only worsens the exodus, hurting families.

In reality, top local “super high schools” now draw most students from private institutions, with public-school representation dwindling.

Reflections on Parenting and Education

Over the years, I’ve pondered education deeply but found no perfect approach amid today’s turbulent reforms. My philosophy is to guide children naturally through school while gently correcting red flags in daily life. Academic outcomes aren’t something parents can—or should—force. As I wrote earlier in Revisiting a Professor’s Wisdom After 16 Years:

A teacher couple, both highly educated, admitted their struggles with their child’s learning. They concluded: “Parents can’t teach their own children (academics).” While parents shape character and life skills, classroom learning hinges on teachers and schools. Their advice: foster a relaxed home environment, enroll kids in the best schools within your means, and maintain good rapport with educators—learning happens in classrooms, not through cram schools.

Looking back at my old blog posts, I realize my views align with my parents’: “Do not impose on others what you yourself dislike.” Even with children, influence must be subtle, not forced. Wrong turns aren’t catastrophic unless they lead to harm.

My own youth was riddled with detours—some near-disastrous—yet I stumbled onto the right path. In hindsight, those struggles weren’t entirely bad:

1. The End of My Student Era (2010)

   I scored far above the cutoff for a top high school but chose a fledgling private school instead—a decision met with disbelief. At 14, armed with naivety and arrogance, I gambled on my “smartness” to secure a college spot. The school waived my tuition, a small consolation.

2. Thoughts on College Leadership Elections (2009)

   I skipped a conventional high school for an experimental private one—a foolish move in hindsight. My parents rarely intervened, a choice I now praise. Early mistakes taught me independence in decision-making.

3. Remembering High School (2009)

   Senior year was chaos: dropouts, fights, and despair. Yet, looking back, those were just minor hurdles. Our class had future Tsinghua scholars and dropouts alike—every conceivable school drama unfolded, magnified.

Reforming Public Education

China’s public education now prioritizes “equity,” aiming to reduce parental burdens and expand free schooling. Objectively, this is commendable. In a vast nation, elite talent will emerge regardless of the system.

But with resources monopolized by administrators, local governments lack incentives to drive equity, especially amid fiscal strains. The result? A few showcase schools thrive, accessible only to those who “hustle”—via expensive 学区房 (school district homes) or children’s academic prowess.

Ultimately, it’s all about the grind.

(Note: Hyperlinks are preserved as in the original text.)