Students have computer class at the Jinzhai County primary school in Jinzhai, East China's Anhui Province, on September 3, 2019. Photo: Xinhua

China’s Ministry of Education (MOE) has issued a notification to local education departments to strengthen rigorous crackdown on illegal off-campus academic trainings during the coming winter vacation in the name of domestic service, study tour or winter camp.

The notification specified to conduct investigations into key places such as commercial buildings and residential compounds where illegal extracurricular tutoring is common, and strictly prevent and inspect illegal academic training concealed in hotels, cafes, residential buildings and other places.

The notice pointed out that it is at the key stage of the three-year “double reduction” work task, the country’s broad reform efforts to reduce burden on students since July of 2021. Although the management on the curriculum-based after-school private tutoring has achieved phased results, there still exist multiple illegal activities such as unlicensed operations.

The notification requires the local authorities to strengthen supervision and law enforcement, improve the law enforcement system on after-school private tutoring, conduct the law enforcement with fairness and civilization and strictly investigate illegal training.

The notice also emphasized the importance of preventing security risks and conducting safety checks. It directed the institutions to perform self-examinations and self-corrections, ensuring monitoring in case any of the institutions become insolvent.

In addition, the notice ordered to strengthen supervision on trainings for art examinations, especially the institutions which carry out centralized training with accommodation, and strictly deal with art training institutions which illegally carry out curricular-based training.

The notice emphasized that the local education authorities should ensure the success of the implementation of the “double reduction” policy, tighten the supervision on the pre-payment to the institutions and prevent malicious price increases, effectively protecting the legitimate rights and interests of parents and students.

The notification also encouraged local education authorities to organize a variety of activities and encourage the schools and communities to carry out daycare services.

In September of 2023, the MOE issued provisional measures for imposing administrative penalties for illegal off-campus tutoring, which came about two years after China’s most stringent measures of “double reduction” to relieve students’ burden.

The administrative penalties include warnings, fines, confiscation of illegal income, revocation of licenses, and restrictions on practicing. The maximum fine is 100,000 yuan ($13,986).

Global Times