Deadline set for tutoring institutions to register as non-profits

All curriculum-based tutoring institutions for primary and middle school students should complete the registration process as non-profit organizations by the end of this year, a new notice said on Tuesday.

The notice, issued by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Civil Affairs and the State Administration for Market Regulation, said before the transition completes, the tutoring institutions should stop student enrollment and charging fees.

Local governments should set up a work group, make a time table and road map for registration and hold institutions with slow progress accountable, it said.

A central guideline has set the targets to "effectively reduce" the excessive homework and after-school tutoring burden on students within one year, and to achieve "significant outcomes" within three years.

The guideline has required the institutions to register as non-profit organizations and banned them from going public for financing or having investments from listed companies or foreign capital.