A year after China’s private tutoring crackdown, classes have moved underground as companies struggle to pivot

China’s severe crackdown on private tutoring one year ago this month, which came on suddenly with an unexpected policy change, has forced many businesses to shut down and driven private classes underground, according to industry insiders and parents.

Last summer, Alice Wang booked four classes for her 10-year-old daughter in mathematics, Chinese literature, cello and ballet. This year, she has only kept the last two because of the policy shift that largely outlawed off-campus tutoring of school curricula.