China tightens regulation of after-school institutions

China’s Ministry of Education has said that 401,050 after-school training institutions have been examined amid a national campaign targeting unlicensed and unauthorized extracurricular programs that put students under too much pressure.

The ministry said that 272,842 training institutions were found to have problems, among which 211,225 had completed rectifications by the end of November.

A number of after-school institutions were found to have taught courses that were too advanced and placed children under too much pressure, causing unnecessary competition among students.

The ministry said that an online management platform will soon be launched to tighten scrutiny of after-school training institutions. Education authorities nationwide will be able to blacklist poorly-managed institutions and accept public complaints about training programs via the platform.