The Chinese Ministry of Education has decided to strictly prohibit excessive homework during summer vacation to reduce the burden on students.

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that the Ministry of Education recently issued a notice titled "2026 Summer Vacation Safety Work for Primary, Middle, and High Schools and Kindergartens," instructing schools to strictly control the total volume of summer assignments.

While specific quantities were not provided, the directive firmly ordered the eradication of practices such as assigning homework via mobile phones, requiring students to complete excessive tasks, and shifting the burden of checking or grading homework onto parents.

Previously, in 2021, the Chinese Ministry of Education mandated that daily homework time during the semester be limited to 60 minutes for elementary school students in grades 3 to 6, and 90 minutes for middle school students.

In this new notice, the ministry also strictly prohibited schools from conducting integrated regional or school-level exams before or after the vacation, and disallowed any irregular testing under the guise of camps or field trips.

Furthermore, the notice explicitly banned "targeted recruitment" to secure top students across regions, as well as fraudulent school registrations and linking admissions to donations or educational funds.

The guidelines also include measures to reduce the burden on teachers. The Ministry of Education aims to encourage teachers to focus on their primary duties, such as communication and safety notifications, and has decided, in principle, to exclude full-time teachers from duty shifts during the vacation.

Additionally, the ministry banned participation in training unrelated to education and firmly prohibited the mobilization of teachers for non-educational tasks, such as river patrols or street beautification events.

Reported by Kim Taewon | Video by Jang Yu-jin | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News