06/01/2026

LYFE TUESDAY | JAN 6, 2026

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Gong Yimei, 24, formerly home schooled student, talks about homeschooling.

Estella (R), sits next to her mother Xu Zoe, 40, while her mother talks about her future.

Advancing future focused learning S INCE she left China’s public school system, 14-year-old Estella spends her weekday rock climbing, o Chinese homeschool students embrace freer youth amid cutthroat job market in Shanghai

studying Spanish or learning acupuncture in her living room as part of her homeschooling. Worried she was struggling to keep up with a demanding curriculum they believe will soon be outdated in the era of artificial intelligence (AI), her parents withdrew her from her Shanghai school three years ago. They are among a small number of parents in China who are rethinking the country’s rigorous education system, in which school days can last 10 hours, with students often working late into the evening on extra tutoring and homework. “Down the road, education models and jobs will face huge changes due to AI,” Estella’s mother Xu Zoe told AFP, using a pseudonym. “We wanted to get used to the uncertainty early.” Homeschooling is banned in China, although authorities generally overlook rare individual cases. Just 6,000 Chinese children were homeschooled in 2017, according to

schedule together. On a Tuesday afternoon, she was the youngest at a nearby climbing gym, hoisting herself up the wall after a day of online Spanish studies from her living room and an acupuncture lesson taught by her mother. Xu, 40, said since leaving the highly competitive public school system, her daughter has grown more confident. “We don’t use societal standards to evaluate ourselves rather, what kind of person we want to be,” she told AFP. Jobs are disappearing Experts said Chinese people are increasingly questioning the value of traditionally prized degrees from elite universities in an over saturated market. In 2023, fewer than one in five undergraduates from Shanghai’s prestigious Fudan University found jobs immediately after graduation. China’s unemployment rate for

the Century Education Research Institute. By comparison, China had roughly 145 million primary and middle school students that year. But the number of homeschoolers had increased annually by around 30% from 2013, the institute said. Supporters said looser schedules centred around practical projects and outdoor activities help nourish creativity that is squashed by the national curriculum. In Shanghai, Estella’s school day ends at 5pm and her homework often required her to spend around four hours a night. “Instead of just doing a stressful exam, I will do the things I am interested (in),” said Estella, who, unlike many students her age, will not be cramming for high school entrance exams she would have taken next year. Her parents have hired tutors in science, maths, Spanish and gym and make decisions on Estella’s non-profit 21st

Estella, 14, a homeschooled student, attends a Spanish class in her home in Shanghai. – ALL PICS FROM AFP

working on projects or outdoor activities. However, his mother who is a former teacher, plans to re-enrol her son when he reaches middle school age. “There’s no way to meet his social needs at home,” she said. Don’t be afraid Time with children her age was one of the biggest losses for 24-year-old Gong Yimei, whose father pulled her out of school at age eight to focus on art. She studied on her own with few teachers and most of the people she called friends were twice her age. Gong said she had more free time at home to consider her future. “You ask yourself, ‘What do I like? What do I want? What is the meaning of the things I do?’” said Gong, who expressed hopes to launch an education startup. Back in Shanghai, college is an uncertainty for Estella, whose family plans to spend time in Europe or South America to improve her Spanish. Her mother Xu, is hopeful that homeschooling may become more mainstream in China, saying she would encourage other parents considering to take the leap. “You don’t need to be afraid,” she said.

16- to 24-year-olds reached a two year high of 18.9% in August, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. “(China) has out-produced. Too many PhDs, too many Masters, too many undergraduates. The jobs they are trying to get are disappearing,” Yong Zhao, an author on China’s education system, told AFP. Chinese authorities have tried to counter the competitive learning culture by cracking down on cram schools in recent years – but tutoring, paid under the table, remains in demand. While homeschooling is technically illegal, Zhao said families can generally “get away with it without attracting too much attention”. One mother in Zhejiang province, who wished to remain unidentified for fear of repercussions, said she used an AI chatbot to create a lesson plan on recycling for her nine-year-old son who is homeschooled. “The spread of AI has caused me to say that what you learn in a classroom you don’t need anymore,” she said. Her son studies Chinese and maths using coursework from his former public school in the mornings and spends afternoons

Estella, 14, a homeschooled student, holds a rope in an indoor rock climbing in Shanghai.