Media: Give children a "learning while traveling" study tour, and the popular study tour urgently needs to move towards standardizing children's study tour

Give children a learning journey of "learning while traveling"

This summer vacation, study tours have been exceptionally popular, and various tourist cities have seen the presence of national summer study teams for primary and secondary school students. As the popularity of study tours continues to rise, more and more problems have been exposed: high group prices, qualified tour guides, "not learning while traveling", and even some study tour groups take a photo or take a card and leave, allowing children to "come here empty handed". This summer has come to an end, and it's time to cool down and think calmly about how to truly achieve "learning while traveling", so that students can return with full load.

The dual benefits of policy and market

In terms of policies, since the Ministry of Education and 11 other departments jointly issued the "Opinions on Promoting Research Travel for Primary and Secondary School Students" in 2016, the policy dividends related to research travel are still being continuously released to this day. Multiple departments have paid attention to and supported study tours, such as the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League and the National Development and Reform Commission, which have issued policies related to study tours, providing more support in terms of time, space, and resources for study tours. And various provinces and cities are paying more and more attention to research travel and labor practice. Schools, teachers, and parents are more willing for students to step out of the classroom and learn while traveling to a wider world.

In response to these needs, tourism institutions will launch and sell research tours as their main products during holidays. According to data, the number of study tours in 2019 was 4.8 million, reached 4.94 million in 2021, and exceeded 6 million in 2022. Since the beginning of this year, the number of holiday tourists has surged, especially during summer vacation.

According to data released by the Ctrip platform, study tours have become a popular choice for many students and parents. The summer order volume for graduate studies in 2023 increased by more than 30 times year-on-year, and the order volume in July increased by 280% compared to the previous two months. According to Tianyancha data, there are more than 23000 research travel related enterprises in China. Driven by the dual benefits of policies and the market, the number of newly registered enterprises in the first seven months of this year increased by 78.4% year-on-year. It is expected that by 2026, the overall market size of research and study tours in China will reach 242.2 billion yuan.

"Roast" of research tour emerges in endlessly

According to a survey conducted by a reporter from Workers Daily, the most popular destination for summer study tours in 2023 is Beijing, mainly because Beijing's study tours highlight visiting universities and are more expensive than other city study tours. Some study institutions even advertise as "officially cooperating with Tsinghua University" to attract customers.

Ms. Liu from Henan signed up for a summer study program at a prestigious university worth 6880 yuan for her son, who is currently in high school. "The child said there is no goal in studying, so we want him to visit universities in Beijing to experience the learning atmosphere and motivate him to work harder.". Ms. Liu told reporters that the registered research program included a full day visit to Tsinghua University, but in the end, the institution only took the child to walk around Tsinghua University for half a circle and took a photo with the school gate, citing that the appointment was not successful. On the Internet social networking platform, similar "roast" emerge in endlessly.

However, the reporter found through search that the registration for study tours during the National Day holiday is still popular. The five-day activities launched by most institutions charge 5000-6000 yuan per person, mainly arranging students to visit Tsinghua University, the Forbidden City, the Old Summer Palace, and the Badaling Great Wall. The reporter searched the official website of Tsinghua University and found that there was no notice of Tsinghua University holding research activities. Individual visits can be scheduled 7 days in advance through the "Visit Tsinghua" WeChat mini program. Team visits can be scheduled 14 days in advance through the "Campus Visit Appointment" section of the "Tsinghua University Security Department" website, and the reservation subject must be primary and secondary schools or education authorities.

In fact, on August 6th, Tsinghua University ended its summer visit reservation and currently only allows campus visits on weekends and statutory holidays.

At the end of July, Peking University reported that an off campus research team called "Peking University Golden Autumn Summer Customized Course" had some alumni split and booked 139 students to enter the school through appointment with peers, with a fee of 10800 yuan per person. After research, Peking University has closed the alumni appointment system access for 46 alumni and no longer has the authority to make appointments for themselves and colleagues.

"What should I do if I cannot enter Tsinghua or Peking University in special circumstances?" A parent asked about the National Day holiday study group. The staff of the tourism agency said, "Based on our past practical experience, Tsinghua University and Peking University can enter at least one university. In case of special circumstances, we will coordinate and arrange to enter prestigious universities such as Renmin University of China, Central University of Finance and Economics, and Beijing Jiaotong University."

The hotter it gets, the more it needs to be regulated

Mr. Zhou, who worked at a research institution in 2019, told a reporter from Workers Daily that his main job was to contact parents and arrange for team leaders. According to Mr. Zhou, although there has been an increase in the number of assigned teachers, the safety risks of dozens of students participating in collective activities are still relatively high. In recent years, there have been frequent incidents of accidents involving postgraduate students: sudden vehicle malfunctions have trapped 43 elementary school students on the highway; A 12-year-old boy was hit and killed by a stone lamp in a scenic area; A 16-year-old student died from heatstroke while participating in desert exploration research during the summer vacation due to failure to detect it in a timely manner; Elementary school students participating in study tours sleep in the hallway... Study tours urgently require industry standards.

What is even more confusing to parents is that the graduate market does not impose strict requirements on the personal qualifications of teachers. Some team leaders do not have a teaching qualification certificate, let alone a tour guide certificate or first aid certificate. When children go out, they are not afraid of ten thousand, but they are afraid of the unexpected. Ms. Liu said that her son was studying with a group in rainstorm during the rainstorm at the end of July. She was frightened in Henan and called her son more than ten times a day.

In 2022, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security added the occupation of "research travel instructor" in the newly revised Occupational Classification Code of the People's Republic of China Occupational Classification Dictionary, which means that research teachers have an officially recognized "ID card". However, some media outlets have exposed that this type of "study tour guide" also has tricks. Obtaining this certificate requires registration, training and learning, and taking theoretical and practical exams. Correspondingly, there have been numerous "certification training institutions" in the market, claiming that they can buy exam questions with money, and even obtain the certificate directly without taking an exam.

The staff of the Beijing Cultural Law Enforcement Corps stated that there are currently no relevant industry standards for research and learning activities, and therefore law enforcement agencies can only manage them according to traditional tourism services, in response to the chaotic issues that arise during the process of research and learning tours.

In response to the low threshold for research tours and issues such as "traveling without learning, learning without research", industry insiders have expressed their expectation that in the future, there should be corresponding standards and regulations for the qualifications and safety of research tour practitioners, and strengthened supervision of research projects, providing children with a "learning while traveling" research journey.

Worker's Daily Xu Xiao