China to strengthen management of off-campus education through national platform

China's Ministry of Education on Wednesday unveiled a set of guidelines on the application of a national platform for supervision and services related to off-campus education and training.

The document states that the platform is a unified public service platform for off-campus training across the country. It provides technical support for the full-process regulation of and services related to off-campus training through website and mobile applications.

Off-campus education and training organizations should register with the national platform to make public their courses and services, and place all prepayments under supervision, according to the guidelines.

Students and parents are encouraged to select courses, make payments, request refunds, provide evaluations and lodge complaints through the platform to safeguard their own legitimate rights and interests, the document reads.

Currently, more than 120,000 legitimate off-campus education and training institutions have been incorporated into the national platform's unified management system.

The platform was established in 2021 and officially launched in July 2023. ■