Teachers also told parents that tablet classes are key classes, and both in-class and after-school learning and tutoring are completed on the tablet, and the learning content of ordinary classes is richer.
During the interview, some parents complained that the school charges high prices, but they have to pay for their children’s learning, and some parents admit that the academic performance and atmosphere of the flat-panel classes are indeed better than other classes.
[There are “tablet smart classes” in many places, the price is as high as 8,800 yuan]
“When my child was studying in a middle school in Guangyuan City, Sichuan, the teacher told me to spend 5,000 yuan to buy a tablet and teaching aid software, and then you can enter the tablet class, and those who don’t buy it will be assigned to a separate class.” For the child’s learning, Ms. Li from Sichuan Pay for the school-designated tablet.
However, Ms. Li found in her conversation with the child that the teacher only used the tablet to assign homework or complete exercises. “Three years later, the child entered high school, and the teacher informed that the tablet in the junior high school cannot be upgraded, and the high school needs to spend the same price to buy another one.”
Ms. Li once questioned that the school should fulfill its nine-year obligationeducate, why the educational resources are not fair? However, high school is a critical period for learning, “what kind of tablet computer costs 5,000 yuan for only three years? The same parents, including me, are puzzled, but in order for their children to enter the wisdom class , I can only spend money to buy places.”
On August 30, 2022, Mr. Li, a parent of a middle school in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, told the top news reporter: “In July, the school recommended a ‘smart classroom’ to the parents of freshmen in high school, suggesting that 8,800 yuan was spent on tablet computers and computer resources. You can be assigned to the flat class, otherwise you will enter the regular class.”
Mr. Li said that the school took a long time to introduce the “Smart Classroom” project at the opening registration meeting, “The school said that the tablet is used for teaching, homework correction, etc., and informed that the tablet and the resource usage fee were originally priced at 13,200 yuan and paid in one time. Then enjoy the preferential price of 8,800 yuan, and many parents bought it for their children at that time.”
【Parents: Have to pay for educational resources】
In addition to Sichuan and Shanxi starting “smart classrooms” to open “tablet classes”, Ms. Zhang, a parent of a middle school in Changsha County, Changsha, also told top news reporters: “When entering the first year of new junior high school, the head teacher told the school to set up a “tablet information class”, and students must enter the class. The price of purchasing a designated tablet computer is about 3,000 yuan, and the tablet course resources within three years of school are charged separately every year.”
Ms. Zhang recounted that when the school entered the first year of the new junior high school, the school repeatedly hinted that the information class was different from the ordinary class, “For educational resources, we don’t want our children to fall behind others, so our parents paid for it, but after the first year of junior high school purchase, the junior high school If you stop paying fees within three years, you need to quit the class. Parents must be afraid that changing the environment will affect their children, so they bite the bullet and pay, which feels like ‘kidnapping consumption’.”
After inquiries by top news reporters, they found that on July 7, 2021, the middle school issued a procurement announcement for the “smart classroom” cloud classroom construction project. The quantity is 50 units.
Ms. Wen, a parent of a middle school in Linyi, Shandong, once purchased a school-designated tablet when her child was in junior high school. Ms. Wen said: “When the freshmen entered school three years ago, the school advertised that the tablet class was the best teacher team in the school, and purchased a tablet computer worth 4,999 yuan. You can choose whether to enter the tablet class. At that time, the parents were too angry to say anything. After the implementation of the double reduction in the past two years, the tablet class was also cancelled, and the tablet you bought before was idle at home.”
However, some parents affirmed the tablet smart class, and some parents said: “In 2019, the children entered the school as a freshman. After the placement test, the school said that the top 100 students can enter the tablet class, and most parents have signed up. , so the learning atmosphere in the class is still very strong, and at the beginning of this year, the children of the high school did have good test scores.”
[The “tablet debate” is not fermented this year]
On August 26, some media reported that since 2017, nearly 5,000 students in Taiyuan have purchased “smart classroom” services from companies such as Longzhimen, and these companies have charged about 24 million yuan for this. Since the implementation of the “smart class”, the Taiyuan Education Bureau has received many letters and visits from parents and feedback.
It is reported that in August of this year, the Shanxi Provincial Department of Education transferred the issue of 8,800 yuan for the “smart class” of Taiyuan No. 66 Middle School reflected on a platform. After the school’s self-inspection, it believes that “there is no arbitrary charging phenomenon, but there is a lack of careful communication with parents and incomplete interpretation of the policy, which has caused unnecessary misunderstandings by parents.” The Taiyuan Municipal Education Bureau reported this conclusion to the Provincial Department of Education on August 14.
At present, some provinces have begun to strictly prohibit the compulsory or disguised purchase of tablets. In August this year, the Hunan Provincial Joint Conference on Governing Educational Indiscriminate Charges decided to further strengthen the control of educational indiscriminate charges in 2022, and issued relevant notices.
The notice puts forward many specific requirements and clear regulations, including: it is strictly forbidden for schools at all levels (including kindergartens) to force or disguise students to purchase tablet computers, educational APP services, and digital educational resources in the name of information-based teaching or class-based teaching. Wait.
In this regard, some education experts believe that teenagers are in a critical period of physical development, and the excessive promotion of tablet computers will inevitably affect the eyesight of teenagers, and when schools implement “smart classrooms” and other related projects on tablets, it is not related to class division and excessive grades. Connected to each other, it is prone to the phenomenon of forced sales, and students from families with financial difficulties should also enjoy the right to education fairness.
The top news investigation found that the “flat class” debate did not ferment until 2022. As early as 2020, there were similar reports in Yunnan, Zhejiang, Gansu and other places.A teacher who has been in contact with “smart classroom” training told the reporter: “Most of these smart classrooms are jointly implemented by some online course platforms or education companies. After connecting with the local education bureau, they will select schools in the schools under their jurisdiction to conduct pilot projects. It will feature courseware or resident teachers from some first-tier cities for publicity, and the specific implementation will be negotiated by the docking company in the later stage.”