From Campaign-Style Enforcement to Feedback-Based Governance: Regulating Shadow Education under China’s Double Reduction Policy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54097/g3yycd74Keywords:
Double Reduction Policy, Shadow Education, Private Tutoring, Policy Implementation, Policy Instruments, Feedback-Based GovernanceAbstract
China's "Double Reduction" policy provides a useful case for examining how governments regulate shadow education under conditions of high-stakes educational competition. Existing studies have documented its short-term effects on tutoring participation, household expenditure, and after-school services, but less attention has been paid to why regulatory enforcement must be linked to public provision and institutional feedback. Drawing on policy document analysis and recent Chinese scholarship on shadow education governance, policy implementation, after-school services, teacher workload, and differentiated policy effects, this article develops a mechanism-based account of the policy. It argues that the Double Reduction policy reframes homework and tutoring burdens from private family choices into public governance problems. Its effectiveness depends not only on restricting tutoring institutions, but also on identifying disguised tutoring practices, strengthening school-based provision, supporting teachers, and developing group-specific evaluation mechanisms. The article contributes to shadow education governance by showing that regulation, provision, and feedback must operate together in competitive education systems.
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