BEIJING — China has ordered online training providers not to offer courses beyond the official syllabus for elementary and secondary schools to save children from too much academic pressure.

Those courses must remain proportionate to students’ grades and individual competence, according to a guideline on online after-school training programs jointly issued by six central authorities, including the Ministry of Education (MOE).

It also required that the training content and data should be kept for at least one year, while the livestreaming courses are kept for no less than six months.

More specific regulations will be introduced to define courses that should be regarded too advanced or beyond the syllabus, as well as penalties, said Lyu Yugang, a senior MOE official at a news conference on July 15.

The education authority will also work to further disentangle enrollment for elementary and secondary schools from after-school training as a move to reason parents out of sending their children to such courses, according to the official.