Children do exercises at the sportsground of Yunxi primary school in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei province, March 23, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

The Ministry of Education has tightened the supervision of off-campus training agencies to create a healthier environment for students' development.

The ministry recently clarified that any individual or organization illegally enrolling preschool children under three years old, primary and high school students will be punished.

The punishment will be decided by administrative departments in charge of off-campus training at county-level or above

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The punishment will be decided by administrative departments in charge of off-campus training at county-level or above. These administrative penalties include warnings, fines, license suspension and employment restriction.

For example, the off-campus training institutes will be warned to refund all the fees when organizing social competitions for preschool children younger than 3 or primary and high school students without official permission. Under serious circumstances, the institutes will be fined under 50,000 yuan ($6,861).

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Also, administrative departments are required to build a fair and transparent supervision mechanism in case of power abuse or behaviors of ultra vires.