FILE PHOTO: Words “AI Artificial Inteligence”, keyboard, and a robotic hand in this illustration taken June 5, 2026.
Shanghai scrapped English final exams for primary school children back in 2021. China also fell from 38th place in 2020 to 86th out of 123 countries in EF’s 2025 English proficiency ranking.
Earlier this month, Tang Jiafeng said on social media that English should be an optional subject in Chinese schools. The debate has now drawn in parents, teachers, policy analysts and a former state media editor, according to a New York Times report. They said the grammar-heavy, test-driven curriculum rarely produces fluent speakers. Xiong Bingqi, who heads Shenzhen’s 21st Century Education Research Institute, told NYT the system creates “dumb English. Wang Zichen of Beijing’s Center for China and Globalization said “blind worship” is a loaded phrase in China. Hu Xijin, former editor of the Global Times, said some people were politicising the issue and urged the education department to ignore them. In July, a Shenzhen research university said it would phase out English courses, citing real-time AI translation.
A maths teacher in China has started a nationwide argument over whether children should still have to learn English. Kids, he argued, were being pushed into a foreign language before they had a firm grip on Chinese. He also asked people to stop the “blind worship of foreign imports. The timing made it land hard. AI translation tools are improving quickly, and young graduates in China face an uncertain job market. It touches everything from classroom workload to national identity. Since the late 1970s, English has sat alongside maths and Chinese as a core subject. It takes up a large share of classroom hours and carries heavy weight in the gaokao, China’s college entrance exam. Some parents and teachers backed Tang. He added that people who use English at work are a minority. Others took issue with Tang’s wording. This is not just online noise. Courses comparing Chinese and Western cultures will replace them. Cinderella Huang, an English teacher in Guangdong, warned that dropping the subject would widen the wealth gap. Top AI models, foreign travel and leading global universities still demand English, she pointed out. Rich families will keep paying for tutors and international schools. For poorer children, school English remains their only window out. Beijing has not commented on the debate yet. For now, English stays on the timetable. Get the latest technology news and updates. Download the TOI App.