The person in charge of the Supervision Department of Extracurricular Education and Training of the Ministry of Education answered questions from reporters regarding the Interim Measures for Administrative Punishments on Extracurricular Training
In order to thoroughly implement the Opinions of the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council on Further Reducing the Homework Burden and Extracurricular Training Burden of Students in Compulsory Education, and to deepen the governance of extracurricular training in accordance with the law, the Ministry of Education recently issued the Interim Measures for Administrative Punishments of Extracurricular Training. The person in charge of the Supervision Department of Off campus Education and Training of the Ministry of Education answered questions from reporters regarding the Measures.
1. Q: What is the background of the promulgation of the Measures?
Answer: The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to the "double reduction" work. "Standardizing off campus training institutions" has been included in the Party's century long historical resolution.The Implementation Outline for the Construction of a Rule of Law Government proposes to increase law enforcement efforts in key areas related to the vital interests of the people, such as education and training. The "Double Reduction" Opinions emphasize the need to strengthen off campus training and law enforcement, increase law enforcement inspections, and strictly punish illegal activities related to off campus training in accordance with the law and regulations, forming a warning and deterrent effect. Since the implementation of the "double reduction" reform for two years, the governance of extracurricular training has achieved phased results. However, problems such as unauthorized establishment of extracurricular training institutions and hidden variations in extracurricular training still exist to varying degrees. The problem of "running away with payment" in some institutions still occurs sporadically, and the legitimate rights and interests of the people are still being harmed from time to time. It is urgent to improve the legal system of extracurricular training, clarify law enforcement responsibilities, powers, and basis, and improve the standardization and rule of law of extracurricular training, so that violators pay the price and compliant individuals are protected, ensuring that the "double reduction" reform continues to achieve practical results. At the same time, various sectors of society generally call for the prompt introduction of administrative penalties in the field of extracurricular training, strengthening and standardizing the work of administrative penalties in extracurricular training, and deepening the governance of extracurricular training through the rule of law.
2. Q: What are the characteristics of the development process of the Measures?
Answer: Administrative penalties for off campus training involve multiple rights and interests, and the Ministry of Education and relevant departments attach great importance to it. We adhere to scientific legislation, democratic legislation, legal legislation, and open door legislation, and strive to improve the quality of legislation. Firstly, in-depth research has been conducted. The Ministry of Education has established a dedicated working team to carefully study the suggestions and proposals of National People's Congress deputies and CPPCC members on extracurricular training and law enforcement. Through case studies, comparative studies, and empirical research, specialized research is conducted to lay a theoretical foundation for legislative work. The second is to fully summarize local practices. Regarding the application of administrative penalties for off campus training, jurisdiction, illegal situations and penalties, law enforcement procedures, etc., legislative research was organized. The research team went to Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shandong, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and other places for on-site research, dissecting typical cases of administrative penalties for off campus training in various regions, sorting out problems, analyzing reasons, and researching countermeasures. The third is to adhere to a problem oriented approach. In accordance with the spirit of the Central Committee's "Double Reduction" Opinions and relevant laws and regulations, we adhere to a problem oriented approach, address the pain points and difficulties of administrative penalties for extracurricular training that have been strongly reflected at the grassroots level, clarify illegal situations, establish legal responsibilities, standardize punishment procedures, and draft measures. The fourth is to consolidate broad consensus. Incorporate soliciting opinions throughout the entire process of developing the Measures, achieving consensus building and brainstorming. Soliciting opinions from relevant departments of central and state organs, as well as multiple provincial education administrative departments, and soliciting opinions from relevant experts and scholars. We have publicly solicited opinions from the public through the official website of the Ministry of Education. Convene a special symposium to listen face-to-face to the opinions and suggestions of experts, representatives of off campus training institutions, and grassroots law enforcement personnel. Study and fully absorb opinions and suggestions from all aspects one by one, striving for the scientific and comprehensive application of the Measures.
3. Q: What is the overall legislative approach of the Measures?
In terms of legislative purposes, the Measures focus on ensuring that extracurricular training operates on the track of the rule of law, establishing regulations for administrative penalties for extracurricular training, investigating and punishing illegal activities in accordance with the law, protecting legitimate rights and interests, making extracurricular training a beneficial supplement to school education, and promoting the comprehensive development and healthy growth of students. In terms of legislative principles, the Measures adhere to the combination of punishment and education, with a balance of leniency and severity, and require that the implementation of administrative penalties for extracurricular training should be based on clear facts, conclusive evidence, correct basis, legal procedures, and appropriate punishment. In terms of legislative model, the Measures are based on the actual law enforcement of off campus training, adopting a legislative model of "substantive law+procedural law", which not only establishes punishment rules but also regulates punishment procedures, comprehensively solves practical problems at the grassroots level, and improves the quality and efficiency of legislation.
4. Q: How to punish natural persons, legal persons, or other organizations for organizing off campus training institutions without authorization?
Answer: Organizing off campus training institutions without authorization is an illegal act explicitly prohibited by the Private Education Promotion Law. Some "black institutions" engage in vicious competition, leading to "bad money driving out good money", disrupting the industry ecosystem, and damaging the rights and interests of parents and students. Article 17 of the Measures, authorized by the Administrative Penalty Law, specifies the identification of unauthorized extracurricular training institutions, and stipulates that natural persons, legal persons, or other organizations that conduct extracurricular training without approval, while meeting the requirements of having specialized training venues for offline training or specialized websites or applications for online training, having two or more training practitioners, corresponding organizational structures and division of labor, shall constitute unauthorized extracurricular training institutions, and shall be ordered to stop the organization, refund the fees collected, and the organizer shall be fined not less than one time but not more than five times the illegal gains.
5. Q: How to punish natural persons, legal persons, or other organizations for conducting subject specific hidden variation training without approval and compensation?
Answer: Unauthorized and paid subject based hidden variation training poses various hidden dangers, such as safety risks in the training environment, risks of harmful training content, risks of exceeding the standard and violating educational laws, risks of infringement of students by practitioners, and risks of difficulty in refunding fees. This not only damages the rights and interests of parents and students, but also may lead to the whole society being trapped in the quagmire of "education competition" that is not beneficial. We must take the rectification of hidden mutation training issues as an important part of consolidating the achievements of off campus training governance, and resolutely crack down on them in accordance with the law. Article 18 of the Measures, authorized by the Administrative Penalty Law, clarifies the situation of conducting subject based hidden mutation training without authorization and compensation, lists three hidden mutation behaviors such as "online transfer," "underground transfer," and "changing vests," and provides a cover clause, and stipulates the legal responsibility of warning up to a fine of less than 100000 yuan. Meanwhile, Article 16 of the Measures stipulates that for in-service teachers in primary and secondary schools who engage in subject training without authorization and pay, they shall be punished severely in accordance with the law.
6. Q: How to punish those who provide offline venues or online channels for illegal and irregular training activities and refuse to correct them?
Answer: Providing offline venues or online channels in violation of regulations provides a basic environment for illegal and irregular training activities. Some facilitators refuse to make corrections even after being ordered by law enforcement personnel, and must be punished in accordance with the law and treated from the source. Article 19 of the Measures clearly stipulates that natural persons, legal persons, or other organizations who are aware or should be aware of the existence of illegal extracurricular training activities still provide venues for them; If network platform operators know or should know that their users are illegally conducting online off campus training through instant messaging, online conferences, live streaming platforms, etc., and still provide services to them, they shall first be ordered to make corrections within a specified period of time. Those who refuse to make corrections within the specified period shall be warned or criticized.
7. Question: How to punish behaviors that affect the physical and mental health of minors in the training content of off campus training institutions?
Answer: The physical and mental health issues of students participating in extracurricular training are the primary concern of the people. Previously, the Ministry of Education has issued the "Management Measures for Extracurricular Training Materials for Primary and Secondary School Students", which clearly stipulates that extracurricular training materials are strictly prohibited from containing content that vilifies the image of the Party and the country, damages national honor and interests, undermines ethnic unity, promotes religious superstition, etc., and must not contain content such as violence, terrorism, gambling, drugs, sexual assault, obscenity, and instigation of crime. Disciplinary training must not be carried out in violation of educational laws and regulations. Article 21 of the Measures clearly stipulates that if the training content violates laws and regulations and the relevant provisions of the State Council's off campus training authority, affecting the physical and mental health of minors, it shall be given a heavier punishment. It is stipulated that the training content shall be ordered to make corrections within a specified period of time, and the illegal gains shall be confiscated after refunding the fees collected, until the punishment of stopping the recruitment of students and revoking the license shall be imposed.
8. Q: How to punish off campus training institutions for hiring individuals with sexual assault or other criminal offenses to conduct training for students?
Answer: The service targets of employees in off campus training institutions are primary and secondary school students, which is different from general industries. From the perspective of cultivating morality, being a role model, and ensuring that students are not harmed, we should strictly grasp the employment standards, which is the most important industry bottom line requirement. Previously, the Ministry of Education, in conjunction with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, has issued the "Management Measures for Employees of Off campus Training Institutions", which clearly stipulates that personnel who have been deprived of political rights or intentionally punished with imprisonment or more for crimes shall not be hired as off campus training practitioners. Recently, the Ministry of Education has fully implemented a system for accessing and querying employees of off campus training institutions, conducting centralized searches for information on illegal and criminal activities such as sexual assault by employees, and weaving a dense safety protection network for off campus training. Article 22 of the Measures clearly stipulates that if the appointment and management of employees of off campus training institutions violate laws, regulations, and relevant provisions of the State Council's off campus training supervisory department, they shall be ordered to make corrections within a specified period of time, and their illegal gains shall be confiscated after refunding the fees collected. If the circumstances are serious, they shall be ordered to stop recruiting students and revoke their licenses.
9. Q: How to punish off campus training institutions for refusing to comply with relevant regulations on pre fee supervision?
Answer: "Difficulty in refunding fees" and "running away with payments" are the most heartbreaking and unscrupulous behaviors of businesses among the people. Some off campus training institutions refuse to comply with relevant regulations on off campus training fees, fees, and pre fee management, and illegally collect large pre fees, leading to the risk of "running away with payments". We must adhere to putting the people at the center, stand firm in their position, and take preventive measures in accordance with the law. Previously, the Ministry of Education, together with relevant departments, has issued relevant policies that clearly stipulate that off campus training institutions shall not charge fees exceeding 3 months or 60 class hours, subject training fees shall not exceed the government's guidance price limit, and non subject training fees shall not exceed 5000 yuan at once. Article 22 of the Measures clearly stipulates that if the pre fee management of off campus training institutions violates laws and regulations and relevant regulations of the State Council, they shall be ordered to make corrections within a specified period and given a warning; If there are illegal gains, the illegal gains shall be confiscated after refunding the fees collected; Those with serious circumstances shall be ordered to stop recruiting students and revoke their licenses.
10. Q: How to punish the behavior of organizing social competition activities for primary and secondary school students without authorization?
Answer: In order to implement the spirit of the Central Committee's "Double Reduction" Opinions and standardize the management of national competition activities for primary and secondary school students, the General Office of the Ministry of Education, the Comprehensive Bureau of the Central Compilation Office, the General Office of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the General Office of the State Administration for Market Regulation have publicly issued management measures and published the "List of National Competition Activities for Primary and Secondary School Students for the 2022-2025 Academic Year". Various regions have also released a whitelist of competition activities within their jurisdiction. Any activities that are not included in the whitelist are considered illegal "black competitions". This type of "black competition" generally has serious problems such as high fees, chaotic management, low quality, selling awards, and profiteering. It not only increases the burden on students, affects the effectiveness of off campus training and governance, damages the education ecosystem, but also hides the risk of fraud and infringes on the interests of the masses, which must be dealt with in accordance with the law. Article 23 of the Measures clearly stipulates that if extracurricular training institutions organize social competition activities for preschool children and primary and secondary school students aged 3 and above without authorization, they shall be ordered to make corrections, refund the fees collected, and be given a warning or criticism; If the circumstances are serious, a fine of no more than 50000 yuan shall be imposed; If the circumstances are particularly serious, a fine of not less than 50000 yuan but not more than 100000 yuan shall be imposed.
11. Question: Which level and department will punish illegal activities related to off campus training according to their categories?
Answer: In accordance with the spirit of the Central Committee's "Double Reduction" Opinions, and in accordance with the relevant authorization of the Administrative Penalty Law, combined with the actual governance of extracurricular training, Articles 6 to 12 of the "Measures" clarify the jurisdiction of extracurricular training law enforcement. One is to clarify the implementing agency. It is stipulated that the competent department for off campus training of the people's government at or above the county level is the law enforcement body, and it is clarified that the competent department for off campus training shall be determined by the provincial people's government in accordance with relevant national regulations. For areas that implement comprehensive administrative law enforcement reforms or empower townships and streets to implement administrative penalties, it is required that the competent authorities establish a collaborative mechanism and strengthen business guidance. Provide guidance and norms for entrusting administrative penalties. The second is to clarify the jurisdiction department. The administrative penalties for illegal offline off campus training shall be under the jurisdiction of the off campus training competent department of the county-level people's government where the illegal behavior occurs. Administrative penalties for illegal activities of approved online off campus training institutions shall be under the jurisdiction of the institution's approval authority; Administrative penalties for online off campus training activities conducted without approval shall be under the jurisdiction of the off campus training competent department of the provincial people's government where the violator is located. The third is to clarify the linkage mechanism. It is stipulated that if the competent department of off campus training discovers any illegal behavior suspected of violating laws and regulations such as public security management and entry and exit management, it shall promptly transfer it to the public security organs and other departments for punishment, and clarify the "action action" linkage mechanism; Those suspected of committing crimes should be promptly transferred to judicial organs in accordance with relevant regulations, and their criminal responsibilities should be investigated in accordance with the law, with a clear mechanism for linking execution and punishment. At the same time, in accordance with the spirit of the Central Committee's "Double Reduction" Opinions, market supervision, civil affairs, industry and information technology, internet information technology, public security and other departments are responsible for the supervision of extracurricular training in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, and strictly investigate and punish illegal activities related to extracurricular training.
12. Q: How to report illegal clues found in off campus training?
Answer: People's supervision and reporting are important channels for discovering illegal issues in extracurricular training, and play an important role in deepening the governance of extracurricular training in accordance with the law. The people are welcome to supervise and report truthfully. If any clues about illegal training problems are found, complaints can be reported through the "Internet plus+Supervision" of the State Council, the official website of the Ministry of Education, the WeChat official account of "China Education Supervision" and the supervision and reporting channels opened in various places; If there are economic disputes related to illegal and irregular collection and refund of fees, complaints and reports can also be made through the National 12315 Platform or to local consumer associations, jointly promoting the formation of a good situation of mass prevention and governance, and jointly safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of students and parents.
13. Q: What provisions have been made in the Measures to standardize the process and behavior of law enforcement in off campus training?
Answer: Strict, standardized, fair, and civilized law enforcement is the lifeline of off campus training law enforcement, which directly affects the credibility of off campus training law enforcement. Article 26 to Article 37 and Article 42 of the Measures, combined with the actual law enforcement of off campus training, pay attention to the connection with higher-level laws such as the Administrative Penalty Law, and focus on providing provisions for situations and standards that urgently need to be clarified at the practical level. One is to clarify the standards for filing and closing cases. It specifies the 5 conditions that should be met for filing a case and clarifies the 4 situations that meet the criteria for closing the case. The second is to clarify the investigation authority. It is specifically stipulated that law enforcement personnel can exercise powers such as inquiry, consultation, copying, and pre registration and preservation of evidence during the investigation process, ensuring that law enforcement personnel carry out investigations in accordance with the law. The third is to clarify the situation of the hearing notification. It is clearly stipulated that natural persons shall be fined more than 30000 yuan, legal persons or other organizations shall be fined more than 100000 yuan, and illegal gains of more than 100000 yuan shall be confiscated. The parties involved shall be informed of their right to request a hearing, and the rights and interests of administrative counterparties shall be protected in accordance with the law. The fourth is to clarify the criteria for identifying illegal gains. It is clearly stipulated that "illegal gains" refer to all the funds collected for illegal extracurricular training, and the pre paid but not cancelled course fees that have been refunded in accordance with the law can be deducted. This can not only severely punish violators in accordance with the law, but also serve as a warning and deterrent effect; It is also conducive to encouraging violators to actively refund the pre paid fees that have not been cancelled, solving the problem of "difficulty in refunding fees". In addition, the previously issued "Administrative Penalty Process Diagram for Off campus Training" and "Administrative Penalty Document Format Model for Off campus Training" have established a standardized system for off campus training administrative penalties, focusing on regulating off campus training law enforcement behavior and striving to improve the level of off campus training law enforcement.
14. Q: How to ensure that administrative penalties for off campus training are implemented and effective?
Answer: Law enforcement supervision is a key link in promoting lawful administration and an important guarantee for the effectiveness of off campus training in law enforcement. Article 38 to Article 41 of the Measures have established a law enforcement supervision mechanism, tightened law enforcement responsibilities, and focused on improving the effectiveness of off campus training law enforcement. One is to establish a listing supervision mechanism. It is clearly stipulated that for major illegal cases, the superior department in charge of off campus training can hang up a signboard to supervise, propose processing requirements, and urge lower level departments to handle them within a specified time limit. The second is to establish a public notification mechanism. It is clearly stipulated that administrative penalty decisions for off campus training with certain social impact should be publicly disclosed to the society regarding the case and handling results, forming a warning and deterrence, while accepting social supervision. The third is to establish a statistical reporting mechanism. It is clearly stipulated that the department in charge of off campus training should establish a system for statistical reporting of illegal cases, and regularly report the analysis of illegal situations, occurrence of cases, and investigation and punishment of off campus training within the administrative region level by level. The fourth is to establish a mechanism for accountability. There are four specific situations in which the competent department for off campus training needs to hold accountable in implementing administrative penalties for off campus training. For behaviors such as abuse of power, favoritism and fraud, and dereliction of duty, the directly responsible supervisor and other directly responsible personnel shall be punished in accordance with the law. Strive to use a law enforcement supervision mechanism to urge law enforcement departments to investigate and punish illegal extracurricular training activities in accordance with the law, and work hard to promote the implementation and effectiveness of the "double reduction" policy, safeguarding children's happy childhood.
