An Overview of Education in China is a cautionary work that examines the educational problems in China today. Author Cheng Pingyuan led more than ten students to distribute more than 3,000 questionnaires, and interviewed more than 100 parents and primary and secondary school students for two years. According to the collected data and facts, he wrote eight research reports reflecting the current educational problems in China. Firstly, the report analyzes many educational problems in China today from the theoretical level of educational capitalization, such as the policy origin and capital logic that push up the educational cost, such as sky-high school district housing, high school selection fees, extracurricular remedial classes, etc. Secondly, the report reveals a series of social consequences brought about by the capitalization of education, such as fast educational mode, teachers' pursuit of profits, parents' struggle for power, educational panic, social atomization, and empty family life. Finally, the report studies a series of educational consequences caused by exam-oriented education under the impetus of educational capitalization, such as false intelligence, immorality, physical weakness and suicide of primary and secondary school students. The author reminds us that the progress of educational capital and the decline of society are mutually causal, which increases the educational cost of the whole society and brings serious social problems.

The Survey on Education in China is informative and impressive to read, and the problems presented reflect a scholar's profound social concern and sense of social responsibility.