Joint cooperation on environmental protection in the past three years between Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province has resulted in significantly improved air quality in the region. China has promoted the integrated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-He… read more
Chinese students celebrate their graduation from Columbia University on May 20, 2015. [photo/Xinhua] At the National Science and Technology Awards Conference held in Beijing on January, 2017, Ren Xiaobin and his team won the second prize in the 201… read more
The Education Ministry released a notice on its website on Wednesday, stressing that parents or guardians are not allowed to educate children at home without permission from education authorities.
According to the Compulsory Education Law, all school-age children must attend primary and junior middle school.
Schools and local education authorities shoulder the responsibility of finding those children who do not go to school and persuading them to attend, the notice said.
“For children who cannot attend school due to reasons such as poor physical health, their parents or guardians should report to the local education authorities and ask for a delay in enrollment,” the notice said.
“They cannot give children home schooling as a substitute for school education if they fail to gain permission from the authorities.”
The notice was released against a backdrop of an increasing number of students being educated at home or attending small, private teaching institutes.
Research conducted by the 21st Century Education Research Institute estimated that the number of children who receive home schooling rather than attending school in China has risen from 2,000 in 2013 to 6,000 today.
Wang Jiajia, who led the research, said the legality of home schooling had long been controversial in China, but that the increasing number of parents and children wanting to do so demonstrated that the unified, standardized education provided in the nation’s schools cannot meet everyone’s needs.
read moreBaroness (Angela) Smith of Basildon, Labour’s Leader in the House of Lords, in response to reports of potential government concessions on the Article 50 Bill, said:
“Reports that the Government is considering a serious concession on parliamentary engagement and a vote on the negotiations are welcome.
“What happens next is a pivotal moment and will determine the tone and trust in the weeks, months and years to come on this issue.
“Ministers have rightly conceded the need for a vote before the deal is concluded and we welcome that.
“Our amendment on a vote on the outcome of negotiations has been drafted by taking note of what happened in the Commons, including ministerial comments, as well as expert advice from peers in the Lords debates. The Government will have heard the senior cross bench peer and former Supreme Court judge Lord Hope’s speech about the need for further legislation should this Bill not be amended.
“We believe we would win that vote. The Government of course could try to overturn it in the Commons.
“But rather than Ministers just holding to the line that they won’t amend the bill but will make a statement on the record, it would be a positive and mature signal for future progress of legislation if having accepted the principle they write this into the bill.”
Ends
read moreSpeech by the Secretary of State during an Opposition day debate read more