The One-Child Policy and Privatization of Education in China

China’s one-child policy is one of the most significant, yet controversial, programs of planned fertility. While the focus of the controversy is on the nature of the policy (for example, whether the policy is humane, or whether it violates the basic human rights of individual freedom), the impact of such population control program on China’s educational policy and practices is understudied. Moreover, the relationship between the one-child policy and the privatization of K-12 education in China remains insufficiently understood. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to address this gap in the literature and to explore the impact of one-child policy on privatization of education, and the transformation of education policy in China since 1979.