Ministry to ban teachers from assigning homework via WeChat, QQ

(File photo/China News Service)

(ECNS) -- China's Ministry of Education said on Friday that teachers in primary schools must not assign homework through the social media app WeChat or QQ messaging service, nor should they shift the duty of correcting homework to parents.

The statement was a written reply to a proposal submitted at the first session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body.

Regional educational authorities in China have already introduced similar regulations amid a national initiative to free teenagers from homework overload. 

Zhejiang Province has demanded teachers not arrange difficult homework beyond the ability of primary students. Parents should no longer correct the homework of students or download and print homework from the Internet for their children. Similar moves have been taken in East China’s Shandong Province. 

The ministry said it had worked with other central governmental departments to reduce myopia among teenagers in a plan introduced last August.