The Ministry of Education is cracking down on additional fees for primary and secondary school students, according to a recent notice released by the ministry.

Local departments of education should seriously investigate any school or teacher that organizes cram schools, private lessons or other means of obtaining additional funds from students and their families, said the ministry notice.

It called on teachers to abide by professional ethics and comply with their duties as educators.

Teachers should be punished or dismissed if they deliberately neglect to teach certain subject areas in normal classes and reserve those topics for lessons taught in cram schools, according to the Teachers Law, the notice said.

The notice also mentions that public schools are not allowed to provide venues or facilities for private training institutions, or to claim that payments for additional lessons are “donations”.