China says will set prices for after-school tutoring (updated)

East Buy Holding

06/09/2021 09:29

(Adds details from document)
    SHANGHAI, Sept 6 (Reuters) - China will set price ranges for
after-school tutoring classes and will probe institutions' costs
like teacher salaries, the state planner said on Monday, after
the country barred for-profit tutoring in any school subject
earlier this year. 
    Local authorities will set benchmark fee standards and
floating ranges that will take into account factors such as
local economic conditions and family affordability, the National
Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement. 
    The new rules announced in July are aimed at easing pressure
on 6- to 15-year-olds in compulsory education as well as
reducing the cost burden on parents, part of an effort to boost
the nation's birth rate. 
    The rules require all institutions offering tutoring on the
school curriculum to register as non-profit organisations,
triggering when they were announced a heavy selloff in shares of
tutoring companies traded in Hong Kong and New York, including
New Oriental Education & Technology Group  9901.HK  and Koolearn
Technology Holding Ltd  1797.HK .  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2PK0AE
    The NDRC also said localities should look into the costs of
these tutoring institutions and ensure the salaries of their
tutors are not significantly higher than those of teachers at
the local public schools. 
    "All localities must insist that off-campus tutoring on the
school curriculum should have public welfare attributes, fully
consider how it relates to people's livelihoods and aim to
effectively reduce the education expenditure burdens of students
and their families," the NDRC said in a statement. 
    China's education ministry said in a separate statement that
scrutiny over the materials such institutes use to teach should
be strengthened. 
    Staff responsible for compiling such materials must have a
firm political stance, fully implement the ruling Communist
Party's education policy and possess good morals, the Ministry
of Education said. 

 (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Louise Heavens and Tom
Hogue)
 ((brenda.goh@thomsonreuters.com; +86 (0) 21 2083 0088; Reuters
Messaging: brenda.goh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))