Online classes only complement offline education

Editor's note: The early months of this year dealt a heavy blow to the education sector. Many cram schools, which specialize in training students to achieve particular goals such as passing high school and/or college entrance exams, went bankrupt, as the strict anti-epidemic measures forced students to shift to online classes. What should the educational institutions do to flourish in the post-epidemic era? Two experts share their views with China Daily's Yao Yuxin. Excerpts follow:

Private tutoring schools should diversify business

Despite having to close down due to the strict measures to contain the virus, brick-and-mortar cram schools had to continue paying the rentals and teachers' salaries. Therefore, many of them went bankrupt or were on the brink of bankruptcy in the first half of this year.

Facing a "life or death" situation, many offline private tutoring schools began exploring new frontiers online in an attempt to keep their existing students, who used to attend interactive classes with teachers, and attract new ones. Yet it is not easy for them to transform their teaching model. Besides, success will favor those institutions that started online education before the outbreak of the epidemic.

Apart from the lack of experience, many cram schools also faced difficulties, among other reasons, due to limited cash flow and poor management. The epidemic just accelerated their slide toward bankruptcy.

That's why those schools that managed to pull through the epidemic may have a better future. With sound management, the online cram schools will face a less competitive market in the post-pandemic era, as many of their competitors have folded up business. And with more bargaining power, they can offset the loss they suffered due to the strict anti-epidemic measures.

The biggest challenge that offline cram schools may face is another wave of infections leading to another round of strict anti-epidemic measures.

As for the cram schools that survived the crisis, they should learn a lesson from their failed counterparts: it is necessary to diversify their business to cover both online and offline education.

The failure of many offline cram schools has increased online education sector's advantages. However, interactive teaching can never be replaced by online classes, simply because not all students are adept at attending online classes which require a high level of self-discipline.

In fact, parents' desperation to see the reopening of brick-and-mortar schools even at the height of the epidemic shows offline cram schools are irreplaceable. So even though online education may acquire a larger share of the education market in the post-pandemic era, it will continue to complement offline education.

Cram schools need to develop original contents

Many consider the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic slowdown it has caused responsible for the bankruptcy of many offline cram schools. Yet the pandemic and economic slowdown only accelerated, not really caused, their downfall. The root causes of specialized training schools' failure were their fierce homogeneous competition and lack of plan to deal with emergencies such as the epidemic.

In the face of the epidemic-induced economic crisis, rather than focusing on boosting teaching quality to meet the demands of the students, scores of such institutions sought more financing as a lifeline. The process was filled with both opportunities and risks, and those institutions that did not enjoy competitive advantages went out of business.

In the post-pandemic era, offline cram schools should attach due importance to education per se. For example, they should develop original contents to better meet the needs of students and convince the parents of their efficacy. Such measures would help them lay a solid foundation to better deal with emergencies and emerge successful in the next round of competition.

And apart from paying more attention to the needs of students attending offline classes, cram schools should make more efforts to extend their business in the online sector. After all, a person cannot be stable standing on just one foot.

Xiong Bingqi, deputy director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute

Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.