BEIJING — China will tighten the regulation of online tutoring services targeting primary and secondary school students as the country continues to ease students' burden, the Ministry of Education said on Dec 13.

The filing of online academic tutoring applications will be temporarily suspended and those already put on record will be pulled offline before the approval of local education authorities, according to a directive issued by the ministry.

Apps that encourage bad learning methods by simply providing answers to exercises that are supposed to be worked out by the students themselves will also be pulled offline until necessary rectification is done, it said.

The directive made it clear that the filing of educational apps for preschoolers will no longer be accepted.