THE news that some teachers are making a fortune by teaching online has triggered an online debate.

    This is not the first time K12 online education, or students from kindergarten to high school getting tuition online, has become a hot topic of discussion in China.

    The 2016 China Internet Education Industry Report showed that 67 percent of netizens in the country go online to seek education materials or help (including tuition), and one-third of them are K12 students. An average K12 student receives 1.5 to 2 hours of online lessons every day, and the K12 online education market is expected to be worth 4.37 billion yuan (US$672 million) in 2017.

    The trend of students using the Internet to improve their performance in schools is expected to grow because more and more people born in the 1980s and 1990s who become parents have an open attitude toward the Internet. The government’s “Internet Plus” policy, which has education as a key element, is also likely to boost this growth.

    Online courses offer practical choices to students, allow more students to “share” excellent teachers, and have more flexible timetables as the video lessons can be replayed to learn or verify key points.

    More importantly, online K12 education makes it possible for students in relatively underdeveloped regions to access quality education. It makes veteran teachers and good textbooks available on the Internet, and rural students who otherwise would not have access to them can avail themselves of the services.

    However, K12 online education in China is still far from being perfect. At present, it is simply shifting ordinary school courses online, in which a teacher delivers a lecture and students take notes, but there is hardly any interaction between the teacher and the students.

    There are other problems, too, such as lack of quality control.

    Although the law forbids public school teachers from joining K12 online platforms to make extra money, some teachers still do so. Not focusing on their real duty because of their divided attention, such teachers have become a new problem for public schools.(China Daily)