Using apps for homework banned

Teachers will not be allowed to use the WeChat or QQ messaging apps to assign homework or ask parents to grade students' homework, the Ministry of Education said.

In a recent response to a proposal to the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the ministry said it is the teachers' responsibility to grade students' homework and teachers should not pass the buck to parents.

The ministry and seven other departments issued a guideline in August designed to protect students' eyesight by curtailing the use of electronic devices to assign homework. Teachers should assign homework on paper only and limit the time they use electronic devices to teach, the guideline said.