Ministry of Education: Compulsory education schools are strictly prohibited from establishing key classes, experimental classes, or fast-slow classes.

A reporter learned on the 3rd from the Ministry of Education that the General Office of the Ministry of Education recently issued a notice and made arrangements for carrying out the special campaign for “sunshine enrollment” at primary and secondary schools (2026). The notice clarifies that compulsory education schools are strictly prohibited from establishing or disguising the establishment of key classes, experimental classes, or fast/slow-track classes. It calls for promoting balanced allocation of teaching staff and random assignment of students to classes, implementing balanced class placement across the board. Once the class placement results are announced to the public and confirmed, they may not be changed without authorization.

It is reported that compared with the past two years, this year’s special campaign expands the coverage from “compulsory education” to “general senior high school,” connecting the governance chain from compulsory education to the senior high school stage. The notice also clearly requires strict prohibition against subordinate university affiliated middle/high schools, provincial-level high schools, and city high schools in municipalities with districts from engaging in irregular “top students selection” enrollment targeting students from county-level areas, so as to form a sunshine enrollment system covering all grade levels of primary and secondary schools.

According to the notice, primary and secondary schools are strictly prohibited from enrolling students early in violation of regulations, enrolling beyond approved quotas, or enrolling students across regions. They are also strictly prohibited from disguising early enrollment under such names as “intent registration,” “pre-admission agreement,” “guaranteed admission agreement,” “class placement guarantee agreement,” and others. They are strictly prohibited from charging so-called “school selection fees” or “intent funds” at the enrollment stage. They are also strictly prohibited from linking enrollment and admissions decisions with various sponsorships such as “donations for education and assistance” and “education foundations.”

With respect to strict regulation of enrollment of specific types, the notice proposes that a provincial-level review and filing system for specific-type admissions be implemented comprehensively. It is strictly prohibited for any locality or any school to carry out special admissions in the compulsory education stage in the name of an early cultivation program for innovative talents without provincial approval. The youth football talent cultivation reform pilot must be strictly limited to within the pilot scope. Schools that carry out small-language (minor language)特色培养 cultivation projects should reasonably determine their enrollment scope and plans, and they may not conduct or disguise cultural-subject tests during the transition from primary school to junior high school.

In addition, the notice requires speeding up efforts to promote mutual connectivity and sharing of enrollment-related information such as household registration, property ownership, residence permits, social security, and student status. Develop and formulate an “One matter for education enrollment” guidance checklist. For online business handling, procedures such as registration, review, and admission should be handled through “one-stop online processing.” For offline business handling, simplify the completion of forms and submission of supporting materials so that it is “only into one door.” Encourage eligible localities to explore the use of digital means to provide intelligent consultation services such as policy Q&A and enrollment guidance.

(Source: Xinhua News Agency)