In Depth: China’s Preschoolers Are Stilling Cramming for First Grade

Despite efforts by the Chinese government to reduce academic pressure on young students, many children like six-year-old Yang Yang are still spending most of their summers in classes similar to first-grade curricula. Yang attends daily lessons from 8:30 a.m. to 4:25 p.m. covering reading, writing, math, crafts, and physical education, with English lessons on Saturdays, in spite of a 2021 Ministry of Education ban on tutoring preschoolers in academic subjects and a new Preschool Education Law prohibiting kindergartens from teaching primary-level content effective June 1. Nevertheless, off-campus tutoring and private programs remain widespread [para. 1][para. 2][para. 3].

A 2022 Beijing Normal University survey revealed that 91.1% of kindergarten parents believed extra tutoring would help their children adjust to primary school, and 35.7% had already enrolled their children or intended to do so. While public kindergartens mostly comply with instructional restrictions, many parents—worried about their children's academic progress—turn to private institutions or extra-curricular programs, especially as summer breaks approach and classes in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Suzhou fill up quickly [para. 4][para. 5][para. 6].

Parents like Wang Nan plan to transfer their children from public kindergartens to transition programs that mirror primary school instruction, prompted by the fast-paced expectations of primary schools. Enforcement in public kindergartens is strict—some institutions even inspect students' backpacks for forbidden materials—leading parents to supplement with weekend tutoring or switch entirely to private programs [para. 7][para. 8][para. 9][para. 10]. A 2024 survey by East China Normal University involving over 176,000 people across 11 regions highlighted that over 70% of parents believe some elementary content should be introduced in the final year of kindergarten. Tutoring centers respond to this demand with intensive transition courses that last four to seven weeks and cost between 5,000 and 20,000 yuan (about $690 to $2,750), often using proprietary teaching materials [para. 11][para. 12][para. 13].

The push for early academics is exacerbated by declining birth rates, with private kindergartens using academic performance as a selling point amid dwindling enrollments [para. 14][para. 15]. As kindergartens deemphasize direct academics, parental anxiety increases since primary schools, despite official policy, often assume incoming students already possess basic literacy and numeracy skills. This creates challenges for children with little prior exposure, affecting their self-esteem and learning pace, while most classes move rapidly to accommodate the majority who have been tutored in advance [para. 16][para. 17][para. 18][para. 19].

Ministry of Education guidelines urge kindergartens to prepare children for school life through play and life skills rather than direct academic instruction. Experts recommend a child-centered approach that matches content to developmental readiness, with flexibility for advanced or slower-developing students [para. 25][para. 26][para. 27]. Nevertheless, the lack of coordination between kindergartens and primary schools—joint curriculum design and frequent collaboration are rare—leaves a gap often filled by private tutoring services [para. 37][para. 38][para. 39][para. 40].

International examples show more seamless transitions: Singapore integrates primary school experiences into preschool, Japan colocates kindergartens with elementary schools and promotes interaction, and Norway organizes joint activities and shares growth records between stages, keeping early academics simple and developmentally appropriate [para. 41][para. 42][para. 43]. Chinese researchers and educators suggest developing integrated, activity-based curricula and urge more effective communication with parents to align expectations and reduce pressure for premature academic learning [para. 46][para. 47][para. 48].