China Eases Teachers’ Administrative and Inspection Burden
A new policy announced by China’s Ministry of Education aims to help teachers focus on their core duties by reducing the administrative workload related to inspections, paperwork, and school activities.
According to the new regulation, documents and tasks assigned to schools will now undergo strict review, and teachers will be prohibited from taking on responsibilities unrelated to education. All inspection and evaluation activities will be included in an annual list submitted to the ministry, and each school will be subject to no more than one comprehensive inspection per year. “Hidden inspections” carried out under different names will be completely abolished.
To limit non-academic activities on campuses, a “whitelist system” will be implemented. Under this rule, provincial authorities may approve up to 10 activities per semester, while schools will be allowed to organize no more than six. Education authorities will also reduce teachers’ paperwork by integrating digital systems and removing unnecessary check-ins, ranking systems, and photo or video upload requirements. Additionally, after-school services will be aligned with local working hours and will not affect teachers’ performance evaluations.