General Office of the Ministry of Education, Circular on Strengthening Administration of the Compliant Establishment of Foreign-related Schools

教育部办公厅关于加强涉外办学规范管理的通知

May 04, 2012 | BY

clpstaff &clp articles &

Policies to clamp down on illegal granting of foreign academic certificates.

Clp Reference: 1720/12.03.29 Promulgated: 2012-03-29

Issued: March 29 2012

Main contents: Article 2 of the Circular states that the extensive understanding of foreign institutions of higher learning needs to be strengthened, compliant exchange agreements executed and clear provisions addressing student recruitment, educational curricula, student status files, fostering plans, length of schooling, establishment of courses, educational content, mutual recognition of credits, granting of diplomas, etc. set forth and strictly implemented in accordance with the law.

Institutes of higher learning need to accurately understand the policy limits on the establishment of Sino-foreign cooperative joint venture schools, and may not establish projects catering to college students taking the university entrance examination, projects to prepare students to study abroad, and other such foreign-related school projects in the guise of establishing a Sino-foreign cooperative joint venture school (Article 3).

The principle of serving the public good shall be adhered to in establishing foreign-related schools. Fees shall be charged strictly for those items specified by the state and at the rates approved by the provincial-level people's government of the place where the school is located. Additional fee items may not be charged, nor may fee rates be increased without authorisation (Article 5).

Each region shall establish a dynamic oversight mechanism for advertising for foreign-related schools to dynamically monitor online advertisements and advertisements in various media involving Sino-foreign cooperative schools or the granting of foreign party diplomas and degrees. The illegal organisation of activities relating to foreign-related schools and the illegal granting of foreign degrees and other academic diplomas shall be investigated and dealt with in a timely manner in accordance with the law (Article 7).

Related legislation: PRC Regulations for Sino-foreign Cooperation in Running Schools, Mar 1 2003, CLP 2003 No.5 p.32

clp reference:1720/12.03.29promulgated:2012-03-29

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