【Editor's Note】
"Nature Study Camp", "Aerospace Cloud Technology Carnival", "Thinking Challenge Winter Camp"... If it were not for industry insiders or "chicken baby" parents, the average person would not know that there is an Olympiad door behind these activities, and it is not clear which Olympiad competition these "vests" point to.
Under the background of policies such as "ban order" and "double reduction", the way and secrecy of the primary school Olympiad competition have been greatly upgraded. The organizer behind the competition, the training institution as a middleman, the proposition sought after by parents... In the chain of "underground education and training economy" derived from the Primary School Olympiad, each party involved has its own nugget "password", and it is many parents who "pay" for this.
While "banned", on the other hand, "change subjects" recruitment
"The Hope Cup was banned?" "Can I still participate in the competition?"
On November 9, a circular issued by the Ministry of Education caused a huge wave in the education and training circles.
In the "Circular on the Investigation and Handling of Illegal Competitions for Primary and Secondary School Students", the Ministry of Education directly named a number of illegal competitions such as Hope Mathematics, Exploration of Mathematics Garden, Wasu Star, and Major League of America.
Screenshot of the Ministry of Education's circular on the investigation and handling of illegal competitions for primary and secondary school students. Photo: Ministry of Education official website
The Ministry of Education pointed out in the circular that "Hope Mathematics" was formerly known as the "Hope Cup", and the relevant events were held by Comet Sea Technology Co., Ltd. and other enterprises in violation of regulations. "At present, the competition has been banned in accordance with laws and regulations."
As we all know, the "Hope Cup", "Spring Festival Cup", "Hua Luogeng Gold Cup" and "Walking Beauty Cup" are known as the four major cup competitions, and were once the most well-known national Olympiad competitions in the primary school field. In the process of development, the four major cups are linked to the "further education" of elementary school, and more and more parents and students are caught up in it.
This is not the first time that the education administration has issued a "ban on competition", but the primary school Olympiad competition has been repeatedly reborn with a "vest".
As one insider in the industry said: "Xiao Ao has never complied with the test, nor has it ever been examined." ”
Under the background of the "ban order" and "double reduction" policy, the way and secrecy of these competitions have been greatly upgraded: the Spring Festival Cup is packaged as "'Summer of Fire' Beijing Nature Study Camp"; Wasu Star is packaged as "Aerospace Cloud Technology Carnival". From the public information, it is difficult to find the shadow of "examination" and "competition".
The same goes for the Hope Cup. On the day of the Ministry of Education's announcement, a reporter from the Beijing News found that the "2023 IHC Thinking Challenge Winter Camp" of Hope Mathematics can still sign up and pay. Compared with the "banned" hope mathematics event in the circular, the two organizers are different, but the core is the Olympiad competition.
The WeChat public account "hopeMath International" tweeted "2023 IHC Thinking Challenge Winter Camp, coming" on September 20, and the words "exam" and "competition" were not mentioned throughout the content, but replaced by "thinking challenge", "breakthrough game" and "problem solving".
How is this WeChat public account related to Hope Math? According to the WeChat account of the manual customer service enterprise provided by the public account, it shows that its team is the "Hope Mathematics International Invitational Tournament Organizing Committee." The official account also provides the URL of the homepage of Hope International.
Hope International official website screenshot. Photo: Beijing News Investigation Team
The reporter inquired about the website and found that the website was registered in Canada, the registered enterprise name was "hopeMath.Inc", and the company's director was "Yue Zhou". Coincidentally, the Ministry of Education mentioned in the circular that the company behind the Hope Cup "Comet Sea Technology Co., Ltd.", after Tianyan investigation, the company has a director named "Zhou Yue".
According to the official website of Hope International, the organizer of the "IHC Thinking Challenge Winter Camp" is "Hope Math World Committee", and the activity will be held on January 14-15, 2023. The English version of the website introduces the history of the "Hope Cup National Mathematics Invitational Competition" since its inception in 1990, mentions the "Hope Cup" many times, and shows a gold medal printed with the words "Hope Cup" at the end of the text.
What is the "Mind Challenge Game" called this event? Log in to this official website to find some clues. In the "Download Zone" of the website, there are a number of materials for download, including the 2022 and 2021 "Thinking Challenge Winter Camp Grade 6 Real Questions", which contains 40 Olympiad questions.
Individual registration is not accepted for this event. According to the requirements of the official website, becoming a 2022-2023 hopeMath international member (including club members) can participate in the "2023 IHC Thinking Challenge Winter Camp", but the website does not provide a registration channel, "Student registration can only be carried out through a certified school, organization, institution or teacher, please contact your authorized member unit or teacher on this website to obtain a registration link." ”
The Beijing News reporter entered the "2022-2023 Hope International Member Registration Beijing Registration Channel" through the registration QR code as a parent, filled in the basic information, paid the membership fee of 365 yuan, and after the payment was successful, the bill showed that the payee was "Comet Sea Technology Co., Ltd."
After the Ministry of Education announced the ban, it is hoped that the "2023 IHC Thinking Challenge Winter Camp" of mathematics can still register and pay. Photo: Beijing News Investigation Team
After signing up for the "2023 IHC Thinking Challenge Winter Camp", parents will be pulled into a WeChat group. On the day of being notified by the Ministry of Education, the reporter saw that some parents questioned in the group, "Can I still participate in mathematics?" The staff in the group replied: "The main body of the current activity is IHC, which has little to do with it, and cannot participate without notice." What is "Parent Question" IHC? The answer was: "It's like a big company, a small company." ”
"Double Reed" between the Competition Organizing Committee and the Training Institution
While parents who signed up for the 2023 IHC Thinking Challenge Winter Camp were worried about whether the competition could be held, parents who had already participated in the Summer Olympiad were already waiting for their children's winning certificate - at some point in the future, it will be used by parents as one of the chips to write into their children's junior high school resumes.
At the end of October, in Huangzhuang, Haidian, Beijing, ginkgo biloba leaves fell to the ground. Before the "double reduction", it was jokingly called the "Cosmic Training Center", and since the implementation of the "double reduction" policy, most of the training institutions stationed here have been empty. The popular landmark Silver Net Building is now a little deserted.
However, an office in Tower A of the building is unusually busy. On two rows of desks and chairs are piles of award certificates, and three staff members are packing them one by one to send to parents.
Nayo Math Office, Olympiad certificate to be sent to parents. Photo: Beijing News Investigation Team
After confirming with the staff, this is the Nayo Mathematics office. From the outside, there are no signboards or logos, but there is an epidemic prevention and control announcement and health treasure venue code posted on the office door, showing that the place is "Chinese Future Education Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd." Tianyan investigation shows that Nayo Mathematics is a brand of "Beijing Zhichuan Education Technology Co., Ltd.", and "Chinese Future Education Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd." is its shareholder.
The Beijing News reporter saw at the scene that the award certificates sent by the institution to parents included "2022 'Math Garden Exploration' Research Summer Camp", "2022 Aerospace Cloud Technology Carnival", "Hope Mathematics 2022 International Elite Challenge", "2022 Math League International Summer Challenge" and so on.
Among them, the certificate of "2022 'Exploration of the Mathematical Garden' Study Summer Camp" is the organizing committee of the Mathematical Garden Exploration Science Popularization Activity, which is widely known as the "Spring Festival Cup". The certificate of "2022 Aerospace Cloud Technology Carnival" is displayed as "'Huashu Star' Youth Scientific Thinking Club Activity Committee", and the staff confirmed that this is the "Hua Cup". The "2022 Math League International Summer Challenge" is the "Major League of America".
One participant received a certificate of award for the "Exploring the Mathematical Garden" event. Photo courtesy of interviewee
In the past summer and autumn, many parents who campaigned for the competition certificate completed the whole process from registration, training, examination, and award collection through various mysterious methods.
A parent recalled to a reporter from the Beijing News that on July 30, a training institution informed parents of the registration fee for "DSS" (Spring Festival Cup Masters), issued activity notices in the group, and initiated group collection.
The reporter obtained the activity notice called """Summer of Fire" Beijing Nature Study Camp from multiple channels, showing that the activity will be from August 8 to August 11, the target of the activity is primary school students from the third to the fifth grade, and the schedule was announced, including "entering the natural heritage, understanding the magic of nature", "talking to magical species, feeling the charm of nature", etc., the full text does not reflect the word "examination" and related arrangements, and the document does not have any payment.
Screenshot of the activity notice of """Summer of Fire" Beijing Nature Study Camp". Photo: Beijing News Investigation Team
"That itinerary is all fiction, and it doesn't actually follow that. On the day of (departure), a collection and positioning was sent, and the bus pulled the children and left, and no one knew the destination. A parent revealed to reporters that the day before departure, the teacher of the institution notified the assembly time, bus license plate number, items to be brought and precautions in the group, and reminded that "you can't bring your own watch during the exam", "you can't have a calculator, you don't need to bring scratch paper, the examination room will be issued" and so on. He also specially emphasized to parents that for the information and photos of this event, "do not post moments, do not post to any social software".
Later, people familiar with the matter confirmed that the exam was finally held on the morning of August 9, and one of the test centers was located at the "Beijing Changping Shenghua Military Training Base".
Immediately afterwards, the "Huashu Star" (formerly the "Hua Cup") activity was also quietly carried out online. The difference is that the event was packaged as the "2022 Aerospace Cloud Technology Carnival".
According to the notice of the "2022 Aerospace Cloud Technology Carnival" announced by an educational WeChat public account, the content of the event includes four items, namely "online field experience of the launch site of Xichang Satellite Launch Center", "visiting the Long March 3 rocket factory and Chang'e project exhibition hall with a digital perspective", "science popularization knowledge lecture of aerospace experts (China Academy of Aerospace Quality Education and Liangshan Aerospace Science Education Base specially issued certificates for this event)", and "Q&A on aerospace knowledge and comprehensive quality".
One participant received the award certificate of the "Huashu Star" (formerly "Hua Cup") activity. Photo courtesy of interviewee
Among them, the last item "Aerospace Knowledge and Comprehensive Quality Q&A" is marked with the word "extremely important" in parentheses, and at the same time emphasized: "Regarding the question type, score value, activity website and other content of the quality Q&A, the "Operation Manual" issued by the organizing committee at the end of July has a detailed description (extremely important). On the final award certificate, the first prize, second prize, and third prize are not displayed, but are replaced by "Little Doctor of Astronautics", "Little Master of Astronautics" and "Little Bachelor of Astronautics".
At the end of August, some teachers of institutions released "happy news" in the parent group, announcing the awards of their students in various competitions. Among them, a total of 177 students participated in the "Summer of Fire" Beijing Nature Research Camp (i.e. Spring Festival Cup), a total of 279 students participated in the "Wasu Aerospace Science and Technology Carnival", and 505 students participated in the individual and team competitions of "Hope Mathematics 2022 International Elite Challenge", and 470 participants participated in the individual and team competitions respectively.
The hidden business chain behind the huge profits
Under the restrictions of the policy, what motivates the organizer to change its name and organize a large-scale competition in violation of the policy? How much profit margin is there for Olympiad events?
For competitions alone, the event organizer is the primary profitee.
Screenshot of the activity notice of """Summer of Fire" Beijing Nature Study Camp". Photo: Beijing News Investigation Team
Taking the "Spring Festival Cup" as an example, the activity notice of """Summer of Firefly" Beijing Nature Study Camp" shows that the fee standard is 4380 yuan / person, and clearly points out that it includes the transportation fee, room and lodging fee, insurance fee, materials, research attractions and content, etc.
The cost part is conservatively and roughly calculated as follows: the daily cost of each room is calculated at 400 yuan (for 2 people), that is, the accommodation fee per person is about 200 yuan per day; Meals, vehicles, insurance and supplies are calculated at RMB 200 per person per day; Attraction tickets are calculated at 100 yuan per person; According to people familiar with the matter, the teachers responsible for leading the event are all teachers who have registered for training institutions (self-paying), so the organizer's labor cost is very small. In summary, the cost of the three-day event is only 1300 yuan / person, that is, the profit is about 3080 yuan / person.
The reporter learned from many sources that the total number of people who registered to participate in the activity was about 3,000 (±500). Some parents roughly calculated to the Beijing News: in just three days, the organizer made a profit of more than 9 million yuan.
Training institutions that are closely associated with it can also reap huge benefits.
The above "rules of the game" show that the organizer does not accept registration directly throughout the process, but entrusts training institutions to recruit and register on behalf of the organizer. The agency will send a team leader to lead the team to participate in the activity and connect with parents in all links. At the same time, the agency, as an intermediary, will charge parents a markup, and each institution will have a different markup.
Taking a training institution as an example, the internal registration price of "DSS" (Spring Festival Cup Masters Tournament) informed to parents is 6200 yuan per person. The cost is conservatively calculated as follows: a total of 177 people were organized to take the exam, and 4380 yuan / person was handed over to the organizer (organizing committee); A total of 4 team leaders and team leaders were dispatched, and the cost of each person's 3-day trip was borne by the institution (calculated at 4380/person), and 10 parent volunteers were recruited to assist in leading the team (self-paying); Order a set of uniforms for each child at RMB 100 per child. Rough estimates show that the agency made a profit of nearly 300,000 yuan in this activity.
The difference in entry fees is only a part of the institution's profit, and part of it comes from the pre-exam sprint tutorial courses that are sold in tandem with the competition. "Every link has to make a wave of profits, and these burdens will eventually fall on the parents." An industry insider, who did not want to be named, said.
"Most of the parents who participate in the competition will choose to register for classes and sprint before the exam." A parent told reporters that he reported a sprint class fee of 2,700 yuan, plus more than 6,000 competition registration fees, "all of a sudden, nearly 10,000 yuan is gone." ”
In contrast, Wasu Star organizes online activities. The reporter learned that up to now, Wasu Star has held three events in 2022, which are in February, June and August. Among them, the third activity costs 388 yuan per person.
People familiar with the matter pointed out that online activities do not require venues, do not require accommodation, and the cost is very low. The registration fee is low, but the scale of participation is huge, and registration is organized nationwide, and many students will participate multiple times. "Although registration for each exam is voluntary, for parents it's like an arms race: 'I have a first prize, but everyone has a first prize, so that's equivalent to no one.'" Therefore, even if you win the first prize, you will have to take the exam next time. In case I don't take it, someone else does, then someone else's resume will have one more line than mine'. ”
The cup competition has become an "enrollment code" and spawned an "underground education and training economy"
In fact, the chain of interests formed around the "Orsay" does not stop there.
In August this year, after the Spring Festival Cup Masters exam, some parents noticed that after each question, the proposition person of the question would be marked. Subsequently, the reporter obtained a number of previous Masters examination papers through online public information, and found that each question was also marked with the name of the proposition person. A search of these names on the Internet revealed that many of them taught at training institutions or independently.
"Is it equivalent to being both a coach and a referee, is it against the work ethics of the exam proposition? How can the fairness of the exam be guaranteed? How to ensure that there will be no leakage or unfair behavior after the test? "Some parents questioned.
Under normal circumstances, according to the requirements of the standardized proposition work of the test paper, the necessary distance between the proposition person and the "answerer" should be maintained to ensure the fairness and fairness of the examination. But why doesn't the Masters keep the identity of the proposition person secret?
An informed source gave the answer: "Relying on the identity of the proposition person, the teaching enrollment will be well recruited." ”
Similarly, being the leader of the proposition group has more influence. According to informed sources, in the internal organizational structure of the Spring Festival Cup, there are leaders of proposition groups of different grades in the preliminary round, semi-final and finals (that is, the master competition). "The influence of the position of group leader can form an ecology, and some parents will especially pursue him. Influential enrollment based on this identity will bring millions of dollars in revenue every year. ”
The reporter noted that in March this year, the parenting public account "Easy Pama Parents Not Banana Green" introduced an Olympiad teacher in a tweet, and the introduction publicly pointed out that he was the leader of the proposition group of a grade in Beijing Mathematics Garden and the leader of a grade proposition group in the finals.
Subsequently, the reporter consulted the teacher's course registration. The relevant admissions teacher informed that the online course costs 360 yuan per 3-hour class. At present, there is one class in the fourth grade and two classes in the fifth grade, and each class has dozens of students. Assuming that each class is 80 students, after rough estimates, the fee for one class can reach 28,800 yuan, and the cost of three classes can reach 86,400 yuan.
In addition to the "proposition person", Olympiad has also become the "password" for the enrollment of some illegal training institutions. It is no exaggeration to say that the Olympiad has spawned an "underground education and training economy".
According to the WeChat public account guidelines certified by Beijing Excellent Talent Education Technology Co., Ltd., the reporter consulted the staff on the course of the institution. The online course has about 40 people per class, 2.5 hours of live classes, 1 hour of recorded lectures, and 1 hour of knowledge consolidation recording a week, and the price is 250 yuan. The fifth-grade "Creation A" difficulty syllabus displayed by him includes "Dyeing Construction of Combinatorial Problems", "Pyramid Model of Linear Calculation", "Cyclic Decimal and Number Theory Problems", etc.
The fifth-grade syllabus presented by the Beijing outstanding staff. Photo: Beijing News Investigation Team
The official number once issued an article, claiming to be the Haidian District Excellent Talent Training School. It is reported that on May 18, 2021, the Beijing Municipal Education Commission announced that "Gifted Education" (Haidian District Excellent Gifted Training School) held an online subject selection examination for primary school students, violating the relevant provisions of the Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Regulating the Development of Off-campus Training Institutions and the Standards for Running Schools of Beijing Citizen-run Education and Training Institutions (Provisional). At the same time, in the investigation, it was found that the institution had the problem of advanced and out-of-class training, and was suspected of linking the results of training examinations (tests) with the enrollment of primary and secondary schools.
Nayo Mathematics is also still in enrollment training. A staff member of the institution told parents: "When you are new to Olympiad, you can apply for our innovation system class, and the speed will always be about half a year faster than in the school." Take this course and participate in these competitions. ”
The reporter noted that according to the news released by the WeChat public account "Nayo" provided by the staff of the institution, the institution will have courses in the summer and autumn of 2022. According to the official article, in addition to the "innovative thinking training system", the institution also has a "target class system", which is known as "a difficult and fast progress special course system, which is the first choice for Haidian Huangzhuang to strive to run away from families, and share the teachers of the Nayo training team. In 4 and a half years, I almost finished learning the content of Xiao Ao and entered the comprehensive review stage... Open the door to the famous school and let the cow baby soar into the sky! ”
Experts recommend strictly administering education according to law and cutting off the chain of interests
"Among the children who participated, there were mostly fifth-grade students, mainly junior high school groups, who participated in the competition for further education." A teacher who teaches Olympiad said. In his opinion, less than one in ten children is actually really interested in mathematics.
For a long time, the winning certificate of the competition has been regarded by parents as a bargaining chip for junior high school "landing" and competing for high-quality educational resources, so the popularity has not decreased. Since 2018, the education administrative department has repeatedly issued "bans", and various competitions in the preschool education stage and subject competitions in the compulsory education stage have been stopped. The number of competitions has been drastically reduced, and the chaos that has arisen with competitions has been curbed.
Since 2019, the Ministry of Education has implemented whitelist management for national competitions for primary and secondary school students, and as of 2022, the list of competitions that have passed the audit has been published for four consecutive years, while the "Hua Cup" and other competitions have never complied.
"Driven by interests, illegal competitions still occur from time to time, and these illegal competitions disrupt the order of education and teaching, increase the burden on students and parents, and seriously infringe on the interests of the masses." In a circular on November 9 this year, the Ministry of Education expressed this.
Why are illegal competitions repeatedly banned? Why are parents still flocking to it? Xiong Bingqi, president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, pointed out that one of the reasons is that a small number of schools still link enrollment to competitions, causing parents to pursue formal competitions while believing that illegal competitions can also help their children gain a competitive advantage in further education. To completely cut off the chain of interests, it is necessary for local education departments to strictly manage education according to law, and stop and hold accountable schools for violations.
He pointed out that the second reason is that a small number of parents hope to "build" their children's strengths through competitions and show parenting achievements, and by this psychology, they are easy to become "leeks" harvested by illegal competitions and "copycat competitions". In this regard, Xiong Bingqi believes that blindly allowing children to participate increases the child's academic burden and mental pressure, but it is easy to dampen the child's self-confidence, and the gain is not worth the loss.
In fact, with regard to the standardized management of competitions, the Ministry of Education and other four departments have issued the "Measures for the Administration of National Competition Activities for Primary and Secondary School Students", which clarifies that the education department shall supervise and investigate the conduct of illegal competitions in accordance with laws and regulations, the registration management department of public institutions shall investigate and deal with the violation of the laws and regulations on the registration and management of public institutions by the organizer of the competition in accordance with the law, and the civil affairs department shall investigate and deal with the violation of the laws and regulations on the registration and management of social organizations by the organizer of the competition in accordance with the law. Market supervision departments investigate and deal with violations of market supervision laws and regulations in accordance with law.
In view of the change of entity and overseas registration of the "Hope Cup", the above measures also clearly stipulate: when overseas international competitions are held in China, they shall be co-organized or undertaken by Chinese institutions that comply with the provisions of Article 5 of these Measures, and shall be implemented with reference to these Measures. Article 5 reads: "The main body (organizer) of national competitions for primary and secondary school students shall be official institutions compiled and organized by the Central Committee and registered with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and must have the status of legal persons. The organizer must be reputable, have no bad record, and have a strong professional influence and academic team. If it is found that there are violations of laws and regulations in the process of holding the competition, and the competition activity is terminated by the Ministry of Education, the organizer shall not apply for the competition again. ”
What are the penalties for training institutions that participate in the organization of the competition? On November 23, 2022, the Ministry of Education released the Interim Measures for Administrative Punishment for Off-campus Training (Draft for Comments), which gave the answer direction. Article 21 clarifies that where off-campus training institutions organize or participate in organizing social competitions for primary and secondary school students without authorization, the administrative departments for education of people's governments at the county level or above, in conjunction with other relevant departments, are to order corrections, refund fees and fees, and give warnings or circulate criticism; where the circumstances are serious, a fine of not more than 50,000 yuan shall be given; where the circumstances are particularly serious, a fine of between 50,000 and 100,000 RMB is given.
Regarding individuals and institutions that violate the law in the chain for enrollment training, the above-mentioned Measures clearly stipulate: "Where natural persons, legal persons or other organizations carry out off-campus training without approval and meet the following conditions, it constitutes an off-campus training institution without authorization, and the competent department for off-campus training of the local county-level people's government, in conjunction with relevant departments such as public security, civil affairs or market supervision and administration at the same level, shall order the suspension and refund of the fees, and impose a fine of between one and five times the illegal gains on the organizer." (1) There are fixed training venues for offline training, and specific websites or applications for online training; (2) There are two or more training practitioners; (3) Have corresponding organizational structures. ”
Regarding the regulation and management of illegal competitions, the Ministry of Education emphasized that relevant market entities should operate legally and compliantly, and should not hold competitions for primary and secondary school students in violation of regulations.
It is reported that the Ministry of Education has set up a special hotline for reporting and complaints (010-66092315, 66093315), and at the same time requires local education administrative departments at all levels to publish the telephone number for complaints and reports, and widely accept social supervision.
Beijing News Investigation Team
Proofreading Lucie