MOE holds press conference to present State Council decision on regulation of after-school training institutions

MOE held a press conference in Beijing to present the Opinions. [Photo/Zhang Jinsong]

On August 23, the Ministry of Education held a press conference in Beijing to present the Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Regulating the Development of Off-Campus Training Institutions (The Opinions). LV Yugang, Director of the Department of Basic Education under the MOE (DBE), YU Weiyue, Vice Director of the DBE, FENG Hongrong, Deputy Inspector for the Beijing Municipal Education Committee, NI Minjing, Vice Director of the Shanghai Municipal Education Committee, and LIN Qiasheng, Vice Director of the Guangzhou Education Bureau attended the event. MOE spokeswoman XU Mei served as the moderator.

Lv noted that the Opinions marked the first time that the State Council had ever exercised its administrative power to regulate the development of the after-school training market and that this move would play a pivotal role in keeping China’s school education from being disrupted, and more importantly, in protecting school children from burnout caused by extracurricular overload.

To promote the long-term, orderly development of after-school training institutions, the Opinions set out specific requirements in terms of establishment, approval and registration, training practices, supervision and management, interaction with school training, and organization and direction, as well minimum criteria for their venue facilities, trainer qualifications, and levels of management.

Previously in February this year, the MOE, in conjunction with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the former State Administration for Industry and Commerce, already issued a joint notice of a similar nature, in response to the explosive growth in after-school training agencies that only taught techniques for raising test scores instead of knowledge and learning methods. There had already been a public outcry against the scare-mongering tactics employed by these agencies to drive more students to their classes, the disruption they caused to proper school education, and the burden they added on students’ time and family budgets. The joint notice contains a number of target areas for inspection and specific correction measures. As of August 20, 382,000 after-school training agencies have been inspected, and 259,000 found to be non-compliant. So far, following inspections, 45,000 agencies have taken measures to improve their services.

At the event, competent officials from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou reported on progress made in bringing after-school training institutions found to be in violation of regulations into line with regulations.