A math teacher's social media post calling for English to become an optional subject in Chinese schools has reignited a national debate about the language's role in education. The proposal from Tang Jiafeng arrives as AI translation tools grow more sophisticated and youth unemployment climbs, pushing families and educators to question which skills will remain valuable when students graduate.
Tang argued that children are "frantically learning English even before they had mastered their native tongue" and urged Chinese people to stop their "blind worship of foreign imports." The phrase struck a nerve. Wang Zichen, a foreign policy analyst at Beijing's Center for China and Globalization, said the term is particularly inflammatory because it "can imply that you are compromising your own dignity in relation to a more powerful outsider."
English as a core subject since the late 1970s
English has been one of three core subjects in China - alongside math and Chinese - since the country began opening up to the world in the late 1970s. It consumes substantial classroom time and carries heavy weight on the gaokao, the national college entrance exam. The standard curriculum emphasizes grammar and testing, which many parents say does not translate into real proficiency.
Some online commenters supported Tang's proposal, suggesting that students buckling under heavy workloads could use that time for other subjects. Others saw the idea as a step backward. Hu Xijin, the former editor of the Communist Party newspaper Global Times, wrote that the issue was being politicized by people looking to trumpet their nationalism. "The public should not be fooled by them, and I hope the education department will ignore them," he said.
The AI translation factor
As machine translation improves, the practical argument for mandatory English study faces new pressure. Tools that once produced clunky, unreliable output now deliver near-instant translations that are adequate for many professional and personal tasks. This shift raises questions about whether years of grammar drills and vocabulary memorization remain the best use of instructional time.
Educators exploring how artificial intelligence might reshape their classrooms can find targeted resources through AI for Teachers learning paths, which examine how these tools affect curriculum decisions. The broader category of AI Translation Courses also offers insight into what current systems can and cannot do reliably.
Why this matters for educators
The debate in China mirrors tensions that teachers everywhere will recognize: when a subject is mandated for decades, the rationale behind it can harden into habit. Education professionals should watch how China's education ministry responds - whether it adjusts English instructional hours, modifies gaokao weighting, or holds the line. The decision will signal how one of the world's largest school systems balances tradition against technological change, and it may preview similar conversations in other countries where English has long been treated as non-negotiable.
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