School of Economics, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475000, China.
Sci Rep. 2024 May 21;14(1):11611. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-62525-x.
The educational burden from extracurricular tutoring class has become a pressing social issue in China. This study used data from the China family panel studies (CFPS) in 2014, 2016, and 2018 to empirically analyze the impact of Internet usage on children's participation in extracurricular tutoring class. There are many factors that influence parents' decisions to enroll their children in extracurricular tutoring class. These factors include family income status, the level of importance parents place on their children's education, the marginal returns on educational investment, academic pressure, etc. However, in today's digitalized society, the widespread use of the internet will also become an important influencing factor in parents' decisions regarding educational investment. The study finds that, parents by using the Internet significantly increase the probability of enrolling their children in extracurricular tutoring class. Through mechanism regression analysis, it is concluded that internet usage has a positive influence on parents enrolling their children in extracurricular tutoring class by increasing the frequency of social interaction and raising parents' educational expectations for their children. Based on the empirical results, the following policy suggestions were proposed: 1. Schools should establish a more comprehensive after-school education service system to improve the engagement of students in compulsory education; 2. The government can enhance the accessibility and optimization of educational resources by increasing investment in education, improving the quality of in-school education, and optimizing the management and supervision of extracurricular tutoring class. This ensures that students can access high-quality educational services.
课外辅导班的教育负担已成为中国的一个紧迫社会问题。本研究使用了中国家庭追踪调查（CFPS）2014、2016 和 2018 年的数据，实证分析了互联网使用对儿童参加课外辅导班的影响。影响家长让孩子参加课外辅导班决策的因素有很多，包括家庭收入状况、家长对孩子教育的重视程度、教育投资的边际回报、学业压力等。然而，在当今数字化社会，互联网的广泛使用也将成为家长教育投资决策的一个重要影响因素。研究发现，家长使用互联网显著增加了孩子参加课外辅导班的概率。通过机制回归分析，得出互联网使用通过增加社会互动频率和提高家长对孩子的教育期望，对家长让孩子参加课外辅导班产生了积极影响。基于实证结果，提出了以下政策建议：1. 学校应建立更全面的课后教育服务体系，提高义务教育阶段学生的参与度；2. 政府可以通过增加教育投入、提高校内教育质量以及优化课外辅导班的管理和监管，增强教育资源的可及性和优化。这确保了学生能够获得高质量的教育服务。
