The Ministry of Education has asked local education authorities to differentiate academic tutoring companies from non-academic ones to prevent institutions from conducting curriculum-based training under the guise of non-academic tutoring.

教育部11月15日印发《义务教育阶段校外培训项目分类鉴别指南》，指导各地加强学科类校外培训项目鉴别工作，防范校外培训机构假借非学科类培训项目实际开展学科类培训服务等问题。

The differentiation should be based on the purpose, content and evaluation method of the tutoring, the ministry said in a guideline issued on Monday.

指南明确，要从培训目的、培训内容、评价方式等维度对培训项目进行综合考量。

Tutoring companies that aim to improve students' academic knowledge and grades, teach academic subjects or evaluate students based on their exam results should be classified as academic ones, it said.

培训目的主要为提升学科学习成绩服务、培训内容主要涉及学科学习内容、以学生学习成绩、考试结果等作为主要评价依据的，将判定为学科类培训。

Local education authorities should organize expert teams not involved in the tutoring companies to distinguish between them, the ministry said.

各地要组建专家组得出鉴别意见，且相关人员未在培训机构中任职或兼职。

Tutoring companies should conduct self-examination and evaluation and not try to hide behind new identities to avoid regulation, it added.

培训机构要进行自我研判、自评自查，不得隐形变异违规开展学科类培训活动。