RISE Education Cayman Ltd. announced updates on its new enrollments for the second quarter of 2021 and students in class as of June 30, 2021. New students enrolled for Rise regular courses (including Rise Start, Rise On and Hiyeah programs) in the second quarter of 2021 were 3,582, compared with 3,749 for the second quarter of 2020. New students enrolled for other Rise courses (including Rise Up, Can-Talk, other Rise online courses, WhySTEAM, courses provided by The Edge learning centers and light courses) were 6,790 in the second quarter of 2021, compared with 2,183 for the second quarter of 2020. The number of new students enrolled for Rise regular courses in the second quarter of 2021 was almost flat compared with the second quarter of 2020. The Company’s business performance in these two quarters was affected by different market conditions and the new students enrolled for Rise regular courses in the two quarters did not represent the Company’s performance in a normalized market environment. In particular, the offline operations of most of the Company’s self-owned learning centers were suspended in the second quarter of 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in China and Rise regular courses were mainly conducted online during the affected period. New students enrolled for Rise regular courses in the second quarter of 2021 was mainly affected by the following two factors. First, most of the Company’s self-owned learning centers in Beijing have not resumed offline operations due to new regulations on the after-school tutoring sector, which also affected new enrollments for students under 6 years old in Beijing. Second, the number of new students enrolled for Rise regular courses in June 2021 in Guangzhou and Shenzhen was negatively impacted by the resurgence of COVID-19 in these areas. So far in the third quarter, the Company’s offline operations have largely returned to normalcy in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The year-over-year increase in the number of new students enrolled for other Rise courses were mainly attributable to: (i) the continuous roll-out of the online light course programs, which generated almost 4,000 paid enrollments in the second quarter of 2021, and (ii) a significant increase in the number of new students enrolled for other Rise online courses compared with the second quarter of 2020 as a result of implementation of diversified customer acquisition strategies in 2021. Students in class for Rise regular courses were 40,728 as of June 30, 2021, a decrease of 9,844 from 50,572 as of June 30, 2020. The decrease in the number of students in class was primarily due to the uncertainties brought by the new regulatory development on the educational industry and the resurgence of COVID-19 pandemic in certain regions in January and June 2021. The resurgence of COVID-19 pandemic in January led to the suspension of offline operations of learning centers in Beijing and Shijiazhuang, which resulted in a chain effect of lowered new student enrollments and an increase in refunds. The subsequent implementation of new regulatory restrictions on after-school tutoring institutions resulted in the continued suspension of offline operations of certain learning centers in Beijing after the COVID-19 resurgence, which caused further adverse impact on new student enrollments and student retention rates. However, since the implementation of the new regulations, the Company has worked closely with regulators and conducted businesses in compliance with the regulations. As of June 30, 2021, 14 self-owned learning centers in Beijing have resumed offline operations and the Company has been continuously working on the reopening of the remaining learning centers in Beijing. In addition, the Company continued to roll out the two new aptitude training products, WhySTEAM and Hiyeah, which have gained more traction in the market. Therefore, the Company expects the number of students in class to increase steadily and back on track by the end of this year. New enrollments and students in class numbers represent only two of the metrics of the Company’s business performance and should not be relied upon as indicators of quarterly financial results, which may vary depending on a variety of factors, including tuition fees refunded, cost of sales, operating expenses, and certain other factors.