NEW Oriental Education & Technology Inc. plans to cease tutoring services related to students from kindergarten through grade nine at all learning centers across China by the end of 2021, the firm said in a statement yesterday.

The company said service termination will have a substantial adverse impact on its revenue for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2022 and subsequent periods.

In the fiscal years ended May 31, 2020 and 2021, the revenue from offering K-9 Academic AST (After-School Tutoring) services accounted for approximately 50 percent to 60 percent of the company’s total revenue for each fiscal year. The company’s total revenue in last fiscal year ended May 2020 was US$3.58 billion.

New Oriental said that it will shift its focus and resources towards educational products and services that are not related to K-9 Academic AST services, such as its test preparation courses, language training courses for adults and educational materials.

In July this year, China issued rules that banned for-profit after-school tutoring and restricted these companies from raising capital. It also forbid them from teaching during weekends and holidays.

The move was part of the government’s efforts to reshuffle the education sector and ease the financial burden on parents. (SD-Agencies)