For-profit Study Tours Banned in N China Schools

Schools in north China's Shanxi Province have been banned from organizing overseas study tours for profit after a plane crash killed two Chinese girls in San Francisco.

The provincial education department announced the ban in a statement issued on Tuesday, as well as pledged to launch an investigation into local schools' participation in organizing overseas summer or winter camps and study tours.

The statement said the number of teachers should be assigned in proportion to the number of students taking part in the activities.

It noted that teachers' travel expenses must be jointly funded by schools and partner institutions, rather than be shifted onto students.

Some institutions in east China's Zhejiang Province have reportedly offered free seats for teachers and guaranteed that teachers' costs will be covered by fees paid by students in order to persuade schools to organize tours.

Schools will be required to provide detailed information regarding their partner institutions to parents, the statement said.

Six teachers and 30 students from Shanxi, as well as four teachers and 30 students from Zhejiang, were aboard Asiana Airlines flight 214 when it crashed on Saturday.

On Monday, the municipal education bureau of Zhejiang's city of Quzhou ordered local schools and related institutions to suspend all summer camps and study tours.