Parents await details on profit rules

Parents and academic administrators are taking a wait-and-see attitude regarding new rules that bar elite private schools from profiting from tuition paid for Chinese children in grades one to nine.

The revised law on private education was passed on Monday after a 124-24 vote at a session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, which is the nation's top legislature. It states that schools will not be allowed to generate profits from the nation's nine years of compulsory education for local students.

Some have warned the rule change could deal a blow to private schools that offer international courses and recruit students from wealthy Chinese families.