Advertisements, low-price marketing, thunderstorms run off the road, frequent chaos in the off-campus training industry


Is this for education or business? (Four questions about the off-campus training after the meeting)

  On March 6, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized when visiting members of the medical and health education sector who participated in the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference: “Training chaos can be said to be a stubborn disease that is difficult to manage. On the one hand, parents want their children to be physically and mentally healthy. Have a happy childhood; on the other hand, lest the children lose the starting line of the score competition. Other children have learned so much, why don’t we learn it? So we rushed to get ahead. This problem will continue to be solved."

  Off-campus training affects many families, and now the scale of the industry is growing, and it is urgent to standardize management.

This edition launches a series of reports starting today, asking four questions about off-campus training, analyzing the reasons behind the chaos, and discussing the healthy development of the industry.

  --editor

  Hot money poured into the virtual fire

  At present, a steady stream of hot money is pouring into the education and training industry, and the online training market is extremely hot.

Data shows that in 2020, China's basic education online industry will raise more than 50 billion yuan in financing, which is more than the industry's total financing in the previous 10 years.

  However, whether online or offline, driven by capital, many training institutions adopt commercial marketing models, advertise, fight for low prices, and even use the tuition fees collected for investment and speculation.

There are also individual institutions that use financial means such as "white bars" and "education loans" to promote and attract students.

Some commercial platforms have contributed to the flames. For the sake of economic benefits, they have given the green light to the advertising of training institutions, and even encouraged and guided them to compete for advertising. Among them, there are many exaggerated publicity and false advertising.

  Off-campus training is for education rather than business, and business logic cannot be applied. This is a bottom line that must be clear.

Where does the huge amount of money pouring into off-campus training go?

A major aspect is advertising.

From variety shows, to bus stations, building elevators, to online platforms such as WeChat and short videos, off-campus training advertisements can be described as overwhelming.

On the other hand, there are a large number of low-cost courses, "20 yuan and 26 hours, plus teaching supplementary materials", and most of them are language, mathematics, foreign language and other disciplines training.

  Under the false fire, the phenomenon of breaking the capital chain and running away from thunderstorms occurred from time to time.

Not long ago, the online education company "Xue Bajun" announced its bankruptcy, and Yousheng Education also admitted that the company's capital chain was broken.

The company "falls down", but the consequences are borne by the parents of the students. Not only are the courses forced to be suspended, but the training fees paid are nowhere to be found, which ultimately reduces the credibility of the industry as a whole.

"Some training institutions operate in a money-loss mode in order to dominate the industry, with the purpose of squeezing out small and medium-sized institutions. At the same time as vicious competition, training institutions themselves also face operational risks. Once financing fails to keep up, the capital chain breaks, and the company may quickly close down. , Causing the masses’ pre-charges to be unable to be refunded and harming the interests of the masses.” said the relevant person in charge of the Department of Basic Education of the Ministry of Education.

  Parents' anxiety and increasing

  In fact, the rise of off-campus training was originally a good thing. Whether it’s the cultivation and expansion of interests or the improvement of academic excellence, off-campus training provides a good platform for the personalized and differentiated development of students. It must be based on the public welfare attribute of education.

Moreover, off-campus training belongs to the category of private education. The Private Education Promotion Law stipulates that the fees collected by private schools should be mainly used for education and teaching activities, improving school conditions and guaranteeing the treatment of faculty and staff.

  But nowadays, the false fire of out-of-school training is becoming more and more prosperous. Under the overwhelming advertisements, parents’ anxiety is increasing day by day. It seems that if they do not enroll their children for a training class, they will be overtaken immediately if they waste time.

  Faced with the question "How effective is the counseling organization" initiated on the Internet, some parents said helplessly: "All kinds of software to help solve problems, so that children who encounter difficulties do not first think independently, but immediately pick up the mobile phone to seek software "Help" "Since I took the online tutoring class, my child's eyesight has plummeted."

Some netizens said: "Classmates and colleagues around me are enrolling in tutoring classes, and they can only follow the trend. It is related to the children's grades and no one dares to fall behind.

  Don't deviate from the beginning of education

  How to maintain the original intention in the vortex of capital and handle the contradiction between the profit-seeking nature of capital and the public welfare nature of education?

  First, in the face of surging capital, training institutions need to remain calm.

If more and more organizations begin to seek investment, follow the trend to burn money, and expand marketing, the training industry will be in a dilemma of serious internal friction.

These capital and business-attributed methods have caused institutions to be unwilling to focus on teaching research and development, which violated the laws of education and deviated from the original intention of education; on the other hand, they are moving towards "staking the horse", breaking normal business conditions, and accelerating the risk of rapid closure of small and medium-sized institutions. Let the industry compete disorderly and harm the rights of parents and students.

  At the same time, in the face of surging capital, parents of students also need to remain rational.

For marketing techniques and "routines" such as "Do you have a child's future in your shopping cart?" "If you don't come to make up lessons, we will cultivate your child's competitors" and other marketing techniques and "routines", parents should make comprehensive decisions based on their children's growth and development.

It must always be clear that cultivating interest, learning to think, mastering methods, and having a healthy personality is more important than just answering questions.

  In addition, in the management of off-campus training, there are still some difficult problems, which need to be solved jointly by multiple departments.

Education is a conscientious industry, not a profit-seeking industry. Special regulations and rules should be formulated to increase the review and supervision of education and training advertisements, and clarify the responsibilities of advertising operators, publishers, spokespersons, and publishing platforms.

  Another example is the advance charge. Although the education department has stipulated that it can only charge three months in advance, in reality, some training institutions often adopt the method of buying three and giving three to induce parents to deposit.

In this regard, methods such as third-party custody, regular allocation according to the course progress, or a certain percentage of special risk protection funds can be adopted to reduce the risk of "running off the road" and protect the rights and interests of consumers.

  The chaos of out-of-school training is a chronic disease that is difficult to manage, and it is also an urgent "emergency".

Only when all parties work together to return to the essence and original aspiration of education, can the off-campus training market be standardized, orderly and vigorous, and truly become a useful supplement to school education.

  Our reporter Ding Yasong