Recently, in order to implement the “Opinions on Further Reducing the Burden of Compulsory Education Students’ Homework and Off-campus Training” (hereinafter referred to as the “Opinions”) issued by the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Education, together with the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Chinese People The Bank, the State Administration of Taxation, the State Administration of Market Supervision, and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued a notice to make further arrangements for strengthening the supervision of pre-charging of off-campus training institutions to prevent problems such as “difficulty in refunding fees” and “rolling money away”, and resolutely safeguard the people’s vitality Benefit.
The notice pointed out that it is necessary to adhere to the public welfare attributes of off-campus training, implement training fee management policies, and resolutely curb excessively high fees and excessive profit-seeking behavior. Off-campus training institutions should fully use the “Out-of-school Training Service Contract for Primary and Secondary School Students (Model Text)”, strictly implement the education fee publicity system, and all pre-charges enter the institution’s special training fee account. Training for primary and middle school students may not use training loans to pay for training fees. Training services provided by off-campus training institutions shall pay training fees according to law and shall issue invoices truthfully.
The notice emphasized the need to fully implement pre-charge supervision. The pre-charges of academic and non-disciplinary off-campus training institutions shall be fully included in the scope of supervision, including the pre-charged funds that have been collected before the issuance of this notice but have not been completed for training services. Localities can adopt bank custody and risk deposit methods to supervise the pre-charging of off-campus training institutions based on actual conditions. If pre-charged bank custody is implemented, off-campus training institutions must sign custody agreements with qualified banks and report to the education and other competent departments for filing; open a special account for pre-charged fund custody, so that all pre-charged “should be custody and fully custody”. The custodian bank shall not charge additional fees for training institutions and trainees for providing custodial services. If the risk deposit method is adopted, the off-campus training institution shall sign an agreement with a qualified bank and report to the education and other competent authorities for the record, open a special risk deposit account, and deposit a specified amount of the deposit as a financial guarantee for fulfilling the training service promise and refund. .
The notice clearly stated that the departments of education, development and reform, the People’s Bank of China, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, taxation, and market supervision should strengthen the coordinated supervision of the pre-charging of off-campus training institutions in accordance with the division of responsibilities. Establish a working mechanism for regularly sharing information related to pre-charging supervision of off-campus training institutions to strengthen risk early warning. It is necessary to incorporate the pre-charges of training institutions into its integrity construction content, give full play to the role of industry associations in credit building, dispute resolution, etc., guide training institutions to standardize operations, and proactively incorporate training pre-charges into supervision.
The notice requires that all localities should include the supervision of pre-paid fees in the scope of daily supervision, special inspection, annual review, and education supervision of off-campus training institutions. Organize and complete as soon as possible the centralized investigation and rectification of the pre-charge supervision of off-campus training institutions in the province (region, city), and whether there are problems such as “difficulty in refunding fees” and “rolling money out of the way”.
The full text of the notice is as follows:
Notice of the Ministry of Education and other six departments on strengthening the supervision of pre-charging of off-campus training institutions
Education Supervision Letter (2021) No. 2
Departments of Education (Education Commission), Development and Reform Commission, Market Supervision Bureau of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Education Bureau, Development and Reform Commission, Market Supervision Bureau, branches of the People’s Bank of China, business management department, provincial capital (capital) city center Sub-branches, tax bureaus of the State Administration of Taxation in all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and cities under separate state planning, the State Administration of Taxation’s local special commissioner offices, and the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureaus:
In order to implement the “Opinions on Further Reducing the Burden of Compulsory Education Students’ Homework and Off-campus Training” issued by the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council, prevent “difficulty in refunding fees”, “rolling money out of the way” and other problems that harm the interests of the masses. , Instruct all localities to supervise the training service fees (hereinafter referred to as pre-charged) pre-collected by off-campus training institutions (including online and offline) for primary and secondary school students (including kindergarten children). The relevant matters are hereby notified as follows.
1. Strictly regulate pre-charge management
(1) Implement the training fee management policy. Adhere to the public welfare attributes of off-campus training, determine the charging items and standards based on market demand, training costs and other factors, and resolutely curb excessive fees and excessive profit-seeking behavior. The fees for off-campus training of subjects in the compulsory education stage shall be managed by government-guided prices, and the off-campus training of subjects in general high school shall be implemented by reference. Strengthen price supervision and inspection in accordance with the law, and severely investigate and punish behaviors that exceed government guidelines.
(2) Implement pre-charge management requirements. Off-campus training institutions must fully use the “Out-of-school Training Service Contract for Elementary and Secondary School Students (Model Text)” to carry out training, and it is strictly forbidden to use unfair format clauses to infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of students. Strictly implement the education fee publicity system, and the fee items and standards should be publicized in prominent places such as school premises and websites, and clearly communicated to students before training services. All pre-charges of off-campus training institutions must be entered into the special training fee account of this institution, and other accounts of this institution or accounts other than this institution may not be used to collect training fees. Training for primary and middle school students may not use training loans to pay for training fees. The off-campus training fee period should be coordinated with the teaching arrangement, and fees that span more than 3 months or 60 class hours should not be charged at one time or in disguised forms such as recharge or sub-card.
(3) Strengthen the management of pre-paid bills. Off-campus training institutions that provide training services and charge training fees shall fulfill their tax obligations in accordance with the law and issue invoices in accordance with relevant national regulations. When an off-campus training institution issues an invoice, the content of the invoice should be truthfully issued in accordance with the actual sales situation, and content that is inconsistent with the actual transaction should not be filled out. The receipt and payment voucher should not be issued in the name of the organizer or other names. Proof of payment.
2. Fully implement pre-charge supervision
(4) Implement full coverage of pre-charge supervision. The pre-charge supervision of off-campus training institutions implements the principle of territorial supervision. The pre-charges of academic and non-disciplinary off-campus training institutions shall be fully included in the scope of supervision, including the pre-charged funds that have been collected before the issuance of this notice but have not been completed for training services. Based on actual conditions, localities can adopt bank custody and risk deposit methods to conduct risk management and control on the pre-charging fees of off-campus training institutions to effectively prevent problems such as “difficulty in refunding fees” and “rolling out of money”. According to the needs of the work, each locality classifies and clarifies the specific requirements of bank custody and risk margin supervision.
(5) Implement pre-paid bank custody. Off-campus training institutions must sign custody agreements with eligible banks and report to education or other competent authorities for the record, independently select eligible banks, open a special pre-charged fund custody account (special account for training fees), and use pre-charged funds with their own Funds split account management. All pre-charges for off-campus training must be entered into the special fund custody account, and if they are collected in the form of cash, they should all be collected into the special fund custody account, so that all the pre-charged “should be custodial and fully custodial”. The custodian bank shall not embezzle or misappropriate pre-charged funds, and shall not charge additional fees for training institutions and trainees for providing custodial services. The custodian bank shall strictly keep confidential the personal information collected by the students and parents, and shall not disclose, sell or illegally provide it to others. Before the implementation of bank custody, the pre-charged funds that have been collected but not completed for training services shall be supervised by means of risk deposits.
(6) Setting up a pre-charged risk deposit. If the risk deposit method is adopted, the off-campus training institution should sign an agreement with a qualified bank and report to the education or other competent authorities for the record, open a special risk deposit account, and deposit a certain amount of deposit as the funds for fulfilling the training service promise and refund. Guarantee, no guarantee money may be used for financing guarantee. The guarantee amount and regulatory requirements are determined by each region, and the minimum amount shall not be lower than the total amount of fees charged by the training institution for a single charging cycle (3 months) for all trainees. The guarantee amount is dynamically adjusted and must be reported to the education or other competent authorities for the record. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the supervision of special accounts for training fees.
(7) Strengthen the supervision of loans in the training field. Banking financial institutions shall strengthen the compliance management and risk management of the loan business in the education and training field, and shall not grant credit or conduct business to off-campus training institutions that have not been approved and filed as required, do not have corresponding qualifications, have violations of laws and regulations, or have major risks. Cooperation, it is forbidden to induce parents of primary and middle school students to use installment loans to pay for off-campus training.
3. Improve the pre-charge supervision mechanism
(8) Strengthen coordinated supervision. Under the unified leadership of local party committees and governments, all localities should give full play to the role of a special coordination mechanism for “double reduction” work, and do a good job in the supervision of the pre-charge of academic and non-disciplinary off-campus training institutions. The education administrative department should do a good job in overall planning and coordination, work with relevant departments to strengthen the operation of off-campus training institutions and the daily supervision of pre-charging, strengthen risk investigation and source resolution; the People’s Bank of China and the banking and insurance supervision department are responsible for guiding banks and other institutions to cooperate with the education administrative department to make advances in accordance with the law. Charge custody, risk deposit management, and training area loan business compliance management work, related work is handled in accordance with relevant regulations and agreements; the taxation department is responsible for monitoring the taxation of off-campus training institutions, and investigating and punishing tax-related violations discovered in accordance with the law; the market; Regulatory departments strictly investigate and deal with violations of price-related laws and regulations in accordance with the law.
(9) Strengthen risk early warning. Establish and complete an information sharing mechanism, and relevant departments of education administration, financial management, etc., according to their job responsibilities, regularly share information about the pre-charge supervision of off-campus training institutions. The education administrative department shall, in conjunction with relevant departments, study and judge the risk situation in a timely manner, and issue a risk warning to the society based on the degree of risk. Off-campus training institutions shall, in accordance with the regulatory requirements of the education administrative department or other business competent departments, actively submit information about fund supervision accounts, large-amount fund changes, transaction flows and other information obtained from the custodian bank.
(10) Strengthen industry self-discipline. All localities should make training advance fees an important part of the integrity building of off-campus training institutions, and severely punish illegal and untrustworthy behaviors in accordance with laws and regulations. Guide industry self-discipline, give full play to the role of industry associations in credit building, dispute resolution, etc., promote self-discipline conventions, publicity and training, etc., guide off-campus training institutions to standardize operations, proactively incorporate training pre-charges into supervision, and improve the performance of training service contracts ability.
Four, conscientiously organize and implement
(11) Strengthen organization and leadership. Under the unified leadership of local party committees and governments, all localities should take the pre-charging supervision of off-campus training institutions as an important political task, and earnestly realize the recognition, the measures and the responsibilities. Localities should combine actual conditions to formulate implementation measures for pre-charge supervision, improve the supervision platform of off-campus training institutions, and include pre-charge supervision in the scope of daily supervision, special inspection, annual inspection and education supervision of off-campus training institutions to ensure the safety of training service transactions. Effectively maintain the overall stability of the society.
(12) Attach importance to publicity and guidance. All localities should strengthen policy publicity and interpretation, and enhance training institutions’ awareness of compliance operations. Strengthen the risk prevention and guidance for parents, publicize national policy requirements, consumer precautions, etc., guide parents to rationally choose off-campus training, reasonably prepay training fees, actively ask for receipts and other receipts and payment vouchers, promptly report violations of laws and regulations, legitimate rights protection, and joint construction Sharing a good consumption environment in the off-campus training market.
(13) Organize and carry out investigations. The provincial education administrative department, in conjunction with the relevant departments, will organize the basic information of the provincial (regional, municipal) off-campus training institutions, pre-charge custody, risk deposit and training fee special account supervision, and whether there is “difficulty in refunding fees” according to the content of this notice. Investigate issues such as “rolling money and running away” and rectify existing problems. All provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) must complete the investigation and rectification and fully implement the regulatory requirements before November 15, 2021, and report the work implementation and the investigation and rectification status to the Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission, the People’s Bank of China, the State Administration of Taxation, and market supervision. The General Administration and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.
Ministry of Education, National Development and Reform Commission, People’s Bank of China
State Administration of Taxation, State Administration of Market Supervision, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission
October 21, 2021
The person in charge of the relevant department of the Ministry of Education answered the reporter’s question on the “Notice on Strengthening the Supervision of Pre-charging of Off-campus Training Institutions”
1. Question: Please introduce the background and process of the “Notice”.
Answer: In recent years, some off-campus training institutions have been expanding disorderly, pursuing the scale of development unilaterally, using a large amount of funds for sales and advertising, developing vicious competition, and poor management, leading to the break of the capital chain, the closure of enterprises, and the inability of a large number of undissipated expenses. The return, even more maliciously suspending business, “rolls money and runs away”, seriously infringing on the interests of the masses. In July of this year, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued the “Opinions” to make a comprehensive deployment of the “double reduction” work, and clearly required the use of third-party custody, risk reserves and other methods to conduct risk management and control on the pre-charge of off-campus training institutions. Strengthen the supervision of loans in the training field, and effectively prevent the occurrence of problems such as “difficulty in refunding fees” and “rolling money out of the way”.
In order to implement the spirit of the “Opinions”, strengthen guidance to the country, and further clarify the specific implementation policies for the two supervision methods of bank custody and risk deposits on the basis of pilot exploration in various regions, our ministry, in conjunction with the National Development and Reform Commission and other five departments, quickly The development of pre-charge supervision documents for off-campus training institutions has been carried out. The first is to carry out a comprehensive and systematic survey. Carry out in-depth special research, carry out field surveys, and extensively listen to the opinions and suggestions of local education administrative departments and off-campus training institutions. The second is to extensively solicit opinions from all parties. After the draft of the “Notice” is formed, the opinions and suggestions of relevant ministries and commissions, local education administrative departments, off-campus training institutions, banks, and relevant experts are solicited through various methods such as written and seminars. The third is to earnestly study and demonstrate perfection. In the process of drafting the document, the opinions and suggestions of all parties were studied and analyzed one by one, and the text was constantly revised and improved to form a “notice.”
2. Q: What is the main content of the “Notice”?
Answer: The “Notice” mainly includes the following four aspects:
One is to strictly regulate the management of pre-charges. Focus on achieving reasonable and standardized fees, and address the problems of excessively high fees, excessive profit-seeking, long-term fees by training institutions, and infringement of the legitimate rights and interests of trainees through unfair contract terms, emphasizing the need to adhere to the public welfare attributes of off-campus training and implement training fee management policies , Implement pre-charge management requirements such as special charging accounts and charging periods, and strengthen the management of pre-charge bills.
The second is to fully implement pre-charge supervision. With a view to realizing the reasonable and safe payment and use of the fees charged, the “Notice” emphasizes that training institutions outside school for primary and middle school students (including kindergarten children) are not allowed Distinguish between disciplines and non-disciplines, including pre-charged funds that have been collected before the issuance of this “Notice” but have not completed training services. All localities adopt bank custody or risk deposit methods to fully implement pre-charge supervision based on actual conditions. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the supervision of loans in the field of training, and it is strictly forbidden to induce parents of primary and middle school students to use installment loans to pay for off-campus training expenses, so as to reduce impulsive consumption.
The third is to improve the pre-charge supervision mechanism. Focusing on solving the problem that it is difficult to form a supervisory joint force among multiple competent departments, in response to the situation where supervision work involves multiple departments and information asymmetry, it is emphasized to strengthen departmental coordination, form a supervisory joint force, establish an information sharing mechanism, strengthen risk early warning, and strengthen industry self-discipline.
The fourth is to conscientiously organize and implement. Focusing on solving the problem of inadequate policy implementation, in response to the situation that involves many stakeholders and the effect of policy implementation is likely to be attenuated, it is emphasized that the organization and leadership should be strengthened to ensure that the policy is fully implemented as soon as possible. It is necessary to attach importance to publicity and guidance, improve the awareness of compliance management of training institutions, and guide parents to rationally choose training institutions. It is necessary to carry out a comprehensive investigation and rectification of the pre-charge supervision of training institutions, whether there are problems such as “difficulty in refunding fees” and “rolling money out of the way”.
3. Question: How does the implementation of pre-paid bank custody help protect the interests of students and parents from harm?
Answer: Off-campus training generally adopts the consumption model of paying first and then serving. Once the training institution closes down, the training fee paid in advance by the trainees and parents is very likely to be unable to be refunded, and their own interests will be seriously damaged. Pre-paid bank custody focuses on changing the unilateral control of pre-paid funds by training institutions, and changing the disadvantaged position of trainees and parents in training services; by passing the pre-paid fees to a third party, namely the bank, for supervision and management, according to the progress of training service provision The training institution allocates funds to supervise and urge the training institution to perform its obligations in accordance with the contract, and effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of the trainees and parents. In accordance with bank custody requirements, off-campus training institutions must sign custody agreements with eligible banks and report to education or other competent authorities for the record, open a special account for pre-charged fund custody, manage pre-charged funds and their own funds separately, and pre-charge ( (Including receipt in cash) must all enter the special fund custody account, so that all the pre-charged “should be custody and fully custody”. In the event of an abnormal suspension of the training institution, the tuition fees of the students who have not consumed the class can be refunded from the bank in full, which maximizes the protection of the interests of the students and their parents.
4. Question: Why is it stipulated that the supervision method of risk deposit can be adopted in addition to bank custody?
Answer: Due to the different situations in different regions, the fund management models of off-campus training institutions are also different. While providing bank custody, in accordance with the spirit of the “Opinions”, the “Notice” also clarifies the pre-charge supervision methods of risk deposits, and provides options for localities. , Can still achieve the goal of strict supervision. In accordance with the regulatory requirements of the risk deposit method, the off-campus training institution signs an agreement with the qualified bank and reports it to the education or other competent authorities for the record, opens a special risk deposit account, and the training institution deposits a certain amount of risk deposit as required to perform training services Fund guarantees for promises and refunds, and no guarantee money may be used for financing guarantees. The margin and regulatory requirements are determined by localities based on actual conditions, and the specific amount is dynamically adjusted, but the bottom line standard is not to be less than the total amount of fees charged by the training institution for a single fee period (3 months) for all trainees. This also reminds students and parents that they must pay attention to and abide by the policy, and do not pay over-periodically in order to effectively protect their rights and interests.
5. Question: What is the difference between bank custody and risk deposit, and what are the advantages of each?
Answer: Bank custody and risk deposit are both pre-charge supervision methods, and both can play a role in ensuring the safety of pre-charge funds. The difference between the two is that the first is that the source of funds under supervision is different. The funds for bank custody supervision are the trainee training fees collected by the training institution in advance, and the source of the risk deposit is the training institution’s own funds. Second, the regulatory requirements for funds are different. The funds in the custody of the bank will be allocated by the custodian bank according to the performance of the training institution, mainly in accordance with the progress of the training service provided by it. Generally, after confirmation by the parents, the funds will be allocated to the training institution according to the principle of the same proportion and the same progress; after the risk deposit is deposited, the training institution will be allocated During the period of existence, training institutions shall not use or use it for financing guarantees. The third is that the amount of supervised funds is different. The amount of bank custody funds is the training fee paid in advance by the trainees and parents; the amount of the risk deposit is determined by each region, and the specific amount is subject to dynamic supervision, but it shall not be lower than the total amount of fees charged by the training institution for all trainees in a single charging cycle (3 months) .
Under the bank custody mode, there is no need to occupy the own funds of the training institution, but the management service level of the bank is high. Under the risk deposit method, the operation is convenient, but a certain amount of self-owned funds needs to be deposited on the special supervision account of the training institution, and cannot be used at their disposal, resulting in greater pressure on cash flow. However, these constraints are designed to maximize the security of funds for students and parents, and are in line with the spirit of “no capitalization operation” and “strengthening training fee supervision” stipulated in the “Opinions”.
6. Question: How to manage the advance fees of training institutions by all departments?
Answer: To strengthen the supervision of pre-charging fees of off-campus training institutions, we must adhere to systematic governance and improve the three aspects of mechanisms. The first is to coordinate the supervision mechanism, strengthen coordination and linkage, and continuously weave a tight supervision system. Under the unified leadership of local party committees and governments, all localities should give full play to the role of a special coordination mechanism for the “double reduction” work, clarify the responsibilities of education, development and reform, the People’s Bank of China, banking and insurance supervision, taxation, market supervision and other departments, and form a supervisory force. . The second is a risk early warning mechanism to ensure early detection and early disposal to prevent problems before they occur. Relevant departments such as education administration and financial management should establish and improve information sharing mechanisms, study and judge risks in a timely manner, and issue risk warnings to the society. Off-campus training institutions shall, in accordance with the regulatory requirements of the education administrative department or other business competent departments, actively submit information about fund supervision accounts, large-amount fund changes, transaction flows and other information obtained from the custodian bank. The third is the industry’s self-discipline mechanism, with a long-term view, and continuously improving industry governance capabilities and governance levels. All localities should incorporate the pre-charges of training institutions into their integrity construction content, give full play to the role of industry associations in credit building, dispute resolution, etc., guide training institutions to standardize operations, and actively incorporate training pre-charges into supervision.
7. Question: How to organize and implement the pre-charge supervision policy?
Answer: One point for deployment, nine points for implementation. To ensure that the pre-charge supervision policy is effective, we must carefully organize and implement it. First, we must strengthen organization and leadership. To manage “money” is to fundamentally ensure that the interests of the masses are not lost. All localities must recognize the position, measures in place, and responsibility in place, and formulate implementation measures for pre-charging supervision based on actual conditions, and include pre-charging supervision in the scope of daily supervision, special inspection, annual inspection, and education supervision of off-campus training institutions. Second, we must attach importance to publicity and guidance, and enhance the whole society’s awareness of risk prevention and management of “money.” All localities should strengthen policy publicity and interpretation, strengthen risk prevention and guidance for parents, guide parents to rationally choose off-campus training, reasonably prepay training fees, promptly report violations of laws and regulations, and legitimate rights protection. Third, we must organize and carry out investigations, and strive to prevent the students and parents from losing every penny in the future. Relevant departments in all regions shall organize and carry out investigations on the basic situation of training institutions in and outside the school, pre-charged custody, risk deposit and special training fee account supervision, whether there are problems such as “difficulty in refunding fees”, “rolling money out of the way” and other issues, and conduct investigations on existing problems. The problems should be rectified, and the work implementation status and the investigation and rectification status should be reported to the Ministry of Education and other six departments in a timely manner as required.
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