It has been a turbulent and painful week for the education and training industry.

On May 24th, under the influence of media reports that the "double reduction" policy was about to be introduced, education stocks such as Gaotu Techedu Inc., TAL Education Group, New Oriental Education & Technology Group and other education stocks opened sharply lower.

Since then, Gaotu Techedu Inc. (who to learn from) released a net loss of 1.4 billion yuan in the first quarter, compared with a net profit of 148 million yuan in the same period last year, and a loss of more than 10 times that of the same period last year. Founder Chen Xiangdong made it clear at the conference call that the flow of information has been completely stopped. According to 36Kr, Chen Xiangdong held an internal meeting on May 27th to propose layoffs, with a proportion of about 30%.

According to statistics, the value of the education stock market has shrunk by more than $90 billion (about 577.6 billion yuan) in the past three months. Have to admire Hillhouse Capital from the third quarter of last year began to adhere to TAL Education Group, and in the first quarter of this year, complete clearance, really "fast."

The boots of the education and training industry have not yet completely landed, but for practitioners, escape is not the way. How can they examine themselves, save themselves, or even turn the crisis into an opportunity?. Let's take a look at the experience of Japan. Japan's out-of-school education has grown, rolled in, messed up, and shuffled, and now it has entered a relatively stable state.

Budding and erupting

Modern learning in Japan began in the Edo period, when many celebrities set up private educational institutions, such as Matsushita Matsushita's Matsushita Village School. These private schools have become places to spread and teach new knowledge and technology.

In 1872, Japan established a national education system with equality for all. In 1907, the six-year compulsory education system was realized, and primary education was basically popularized. Subsequently, Japanese study schools gradually evolved into institutions for the purpose of further studies and tutoring.

Behind this is due to the scarcity of secondary and higher education resources after the popularization of primary education in Japan, and students are facing increasingly fierce pressure to pursue further studies in order to obtain higher education. In the 1960s, when the postwar "baby boomers" generation participated in the entrance examinations for middle and high schools, the number of candidates increased, the competition for further studies intensified, and the demand for out-of-school education and training of students and parents erupted. By 1962, the enrollment rate of Japanese middle school students had reached 30.3%, which is in front of the world.

However, the development of Japanese study schools does not stop there.

In 1977, Japan implemented "loose education". This policy was used to solve the "cramming" education tendency in the past, requiring schools to reduce curriculum knowledge points, shorten class time, and pay more attention to students' independent learning and independent thinking. As the competitive pressure for further study still exists, especially the competition from famous schools, many families have to place their studies on out-of-school education, and more students flock to study schools, which ushered in the second outbreak period.

According to the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology, the proportion of middle school students participating in out-of-school education and training rose from 38.0% in 1976 to 59.5% in 1993. According to the data of Japan's General Affairs Office, the number of study schools reached more than 45000 in 1991. During this period, the Japanese education and training institutions obviously showed a pyramid distribution, and there were very few large-scale enterprises.

After entering the 21st century, the Japanese government implemented loose education to make up for the decline of students' learning ability caused by the loose period in the past, public education improved the teaching content and quality, and Japan entered a society with fewer children after 1997. the overall demand for study schools is gradually saturated, the number decreases, and the degree of centralization increases. So far, the number of study schools in Japan is about 50,000.

It should be noted that although it is an off-campus training institution, Japanese study schools also attach importance to the cultivation of students' abilities such as autonomy, self-reliance and getting along with others. For example, the educational concept of the Japanese study school "River Union School" mentions that it is necessary to help every student realize himself and attach importance to the cultivation of students' independent thinking and action, such as increasing survival ability training courses.

Japanese college entrance examination cram school advertisement Huazawa coriander dubbing

Involute labor pain

As a matter of fact, the development of the Japanese study school industry has not been smooth, and it has experienced a long period of mixed fish and dragons.

Since the 1960s, driven by the two waves of learning, the learning school industry burst out a huge market potential, driving the gold diggers to enter the industry one after another, and various problems and criticisms against learning schools were also carried out.

On the one hand, there are the problems of teaching quality and teachers.

Due to the sharp increase in the number of learning schools, teacher resources are in a state of scarcity, which directly leads to the decline of teaching quality. According to a report released by Japan's Ministry of Education in 1977, 22.5% of the students did not have any relevant educational experience.

On the other hand, there is a general situation of over-enrollment.

In Japanese newspapers, television, subways and street bus stations, all kinds of admissions advertisements for study schools can be seen everywhere, mostly introducing the methods of institutional tutoring, the effect of raising scores, the number of students admitted to famous high schools or universities, and so on. Under the indiscriminate bombardment of these marketing advertisements, parents and students are surrounded by anxiety, as if they cannot be admitted to famous schools if they do not go to cram schools, let alone find good jobs or be admitted to civil servants. The degree of educational competition and volume can be seen.

It is reported that Matsujima Caiko, the queen of Japanese drama, has been signing up for high-priced cram schools for her children.

Matsujima Caizi (first from right)

Since 1986, the relevant departments of the Japanese government have intervened to guide the development of the learning school industry, continuously supervise and manage the learning school institutions, and standardize the learning school industry. For example, setting benchmarks for industry and career activities, evaluating learning school business activities, training and ability certification for learning school lecturers, and so on. Taking the "guidelines for Standardization and Autonomy of Learning School activities" issued by the Japanese government in 1999 as an example, it stipulates that the operation of study schools should be aware of its responsibility to the society, and propaganda should not be misled.

After entering the 21st century, with the development and maturity of the learning school industry, Japan has also introduced a learning school certification and lecturer certification system to improve the teaching quality of learning schools and teachers in institutions.

The major study schools are gradually recognized by more schools, parents and students. Public schools have also begun to explore cooperation with out-of-school study schools to promote the reform of school education. Take Tokyo Zuli District as an example. In 2012, the district set up a "Flying School", in which teachers teach English and mathematics to the third-year students of secondary schools in the district on Saturdays or summer vacations. The expenses are borne by the district finance. Students are free of tuition.

Japanese public schools and study schools gradually evolved into a cooperative relationship, and the latter played its own complementary role in school education, such as providing teaching materials, examination questions, teacher training, etc., and giving advice to public schools. Play their own public welfare role and auxiliary role.

New growth

After so many years of development, the Japanese learning school industry is stable and diversified-there are fine enterprises in cram schools, tutoring institutions, foreign language learning, professional qualification training or certification examinations, early childhood education, corporate training services, and so on.

Different from the low-concentration and small-scale study schools in the past, Japan has gradually developed group-style study schools with a wide range of business coverage, such as Hehe Shuk, Dongjin, Juntai and other head institutions. In recent years, with the development of the Internet, Japanese Learning Shuk has also launched a teaching model of online and offline collection, such as online classes, doing intelligent exercises and so on.

Ho Ho Shuk website

However, the influence of Japan's low birth rate has gradually penetrated into the Japanese study school industry, which has also restricted the further development of the industry. In the 1980s, the low birth rate brought about a decrease in the number of students and an increase in personal investment in education, but the decrease in the number of students reduced the pressure on further studies and reduced the demand for extra-curricular tutoring and training. Speculative data from Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs show that Japan's population between the ages of 5 and 19 shrank by about 11.612 million between 1986 and 2020. Since 2016, the number of participating students in Japan has remained at about 13 million, an increase of almost 0%.

In this context, many Japanese study schools began to explore new growth points.

At present, Hehe Shu's education business basically covers all stages of education, from infants and young children to college graduates, while looking overseas. Hehe Shuk gradually opened up overseas markets with its own teacher resources and R & D team, such as the establishment of Shanghai Alsheng River Co., Ltd. in China in 2021, and began to distribute the Chinese market.

In addition, Benesse, another Japanese educational institution, started baby courses in China and South Korea as early as 2006. In addition to expanding overseas markets, Bei Le Sheng also distributes care, pension, health care and other areas to cope with the aging trend in Japan.

The Japanese learning school industry experienced sprouting, erupting to internal pain, and finally tended to develop steadily. It is not difficult to find that education is a cause that needs to return to the original mind no matter where it is. Combining national conditions and learning conditions, teaching students in accordance with their aptitude and cultivating talents in moral education is the real way out for this industry.