BEIJING, Aug. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TAL Education Group
("TAL" or the "Company") (NYSE: TAL), a leading K-12 after-school
tutoring services provider in China, announced that the Beijing Municipality
Government and the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist
Party of China jointly issued the
"Beijing Municipality's Measures to Further Reduce the Burden of
Homework and After-School Tutoring on Students in Compulsory
Education in Beijing" (the
"Beijing Measures") on August 14,
2021, and published the full text of the Beijing Measures on
August 18, 2021. The Beijing Measures
were adopted to implement the Opinions on Further Alleviating the
Burden of Homework and After-School Tutoring for Students in
Compulsory Education, published in July by the General Office of
the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State
Council, and aims to ensure that "the excessive burden upon
students from school homework and after-school tutoring, the
education expenditures from their families and the burden on their
parents' energy will be effectively reduced by the end of 2021,
with significant impact achieved within two years."
With respect to after-school tutoring services, among other
things, the Beijing Measures contain the following provisions:
- No new provider of after-school tutoring services on academic
subjects in China's compulsory
education system ("Academic AST") will be approved, while existing
Academic AST providers will be subject to review and
re-registration aimed at reducing their numbers by phases; the
remaining Academic AST providers shall all be registered as
non-profit; previously registered online Academic AST providers
will also be subject to review and re-registration and the
registration and ICP license of any unqualified online AST
providers will be rescinded.
- After-school tutoring providers are strictly prohibited from
providing Academic AST during any national holiday, weekend, winter
and summer break period; there are further restrictions over when
Academic AST can be offered during weekdays.
- Academic AST providers are prohibited from (i) offering classes
over contents outside of or in advance of the school curriculum,
(ii) offering classes based on any foreign curriculum, (iii)
soliciting and recruiting school teachers by offering excessive
compensation, or (iv) employing foreign personnel to carry out
training activities from overseas. Non-Academic AST providers are
prohibited from offering Academic AST classes.
- Prices for Academic AST will need to follow the guidelines from
the government to prevent "any excessive charging or profit-seeking
activity".
- Academic AST providers are prohibited from financing by way of
listing its securities or conducting other capital market
activities; listed companies may not invest in Academic AST
providers through capital markets fundraising activities, and may
not acquire assets of AST providers by paying cash or issuing
securities; foreign capital is prohibited from controlling or
participating in AST providers through mergers and acquisitions,
entrusted operations, joining franchises, using variable interest
entities or other structures.
- Enhancing oversight of AST advertising, including restricting
the channels for deploying AST advertisements.
Certain other provinces and municipalities in China have reportedly adopted similar measures
and the Company expects that additional provinces and
municipalities may follow similar approaches. The Company's
compliance with these measures will have a material adverse impact
on its existing AST business, results of operations and financial
condition. Specifically, in compliance with the Beijing
Measures, the Company has stopped offering Academic AST classes
over weekends, national holidays and the current school break
period in Beijing. Historically,
the revenues from Academic AST classes over these time
periods accounted for the
majority of the Company's total revenues. The Company will
continue to proactively seek guidance from and cooperate with
government authorities in Beijing
and other provinces and municipalities in connection with its
efforts to comply with the policy directives of the PRC central
government and any related implementation rules, regulations and
measures.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These
statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of
the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by
terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future,"
"intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements.
The Company may also make written or oral forward-looking
statements in its reports filed with, or furnished to,
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual
reports to shareholders, in press releases and other written
materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or
employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical
facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and
expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Information
regarding these risks and uncertainties is included in the
Company's reports filed with, or furnished to the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in
this press release is as of the date of this press release,
and TAL Education Group undertakes no duty to update such
information or any forward-looking statement, except as required
under applicable law.
About TAL Education Group
TAL Education Group is a leading K-12 after-school tutoring
services provider in China. The acronym "TAL" stands for
"Tomorrow Advancing Life", which reflects our vision to promote top
learning opportunities for Chinese students through both
high-quality teaching and content, as well as leading edge
application of technology in the education experience. TAL
Education Group offers comprehensive tutoring services to
students from pre-school to the twelfth grade through three
flexible class formats: small classes, personalized premium
services, and online courses. Our tutoring services cover the core
academic subjects in China's school curriculum as well as
competence oriented programs. The Company's learning center network
currently covers 110 cities. We also
operate www.jzb.com, a leading online education platform
in China. Our ADSs trade on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol "TAL".
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SOURCE TAL Education Group