During a conversation, a friend expressed frustration in finding a private tutor for his middle school son. I reassured him that the enrollment rate in tertiary education in China was currently quite high. Moreover, gaining admission to one of the top 39 universities in China, known as a
“Project 985” university, was not as challenging as he thought. Therefore, there was no need to be overly anxious. He chided me for lacking empathy, saying that while his son might get into a Project 985 university without tuition, with tuition, he might get into Tsinghua University or Peking University.
Involution due to lack of wealth?
The country’s ban on the
private tutoring sector has not stopped parents from becoming
“involuted” (卷 juan, referring to various forms of inward spiral, regression or stagnation). Not only that, Chinese automobile companies are also lamenting that the intense price war has led to a severely “involuted” automotive industry where it is impossible to make profits. I cannot help but lament: it seems that the Chinese can never truly escape involution.
