Abstract:

Based on the evolution of the Private Education Promotion Law, tutoring institutions have been positioned as private schools. However, as a kind of off-campus education, tutoring is a supplement to school education in the national education system, which promotes personalized development of individuals. The positioning of tutoring institutions as private schools has diminished their complementary role due to the failure to take into account the particularity of tutoring institutions. Tutoring institutions are different from private schools. On this basis, the legal status of tutoring institutions includes not only the legal person status in civil relations, but also the legal status in administrative relations. Regarding the former, it cannot be simply assumed that tutoring institutions are corporate entities; regarding the latter, tutoring institutions should be positioned as other educational institutions under the Education Law. The identity of other educational institutions of tutoring institutions is the legitimate basis for the special regulation of tutoring institutions. The clarity of the above legal status has two main normative meanings: first, tutoring institutions should be separated from the adjustment scope of the Private Education Promotion Law and specially regulated by other legislation. In theory, other legislation can be off-campus education legislation or social education legislation, but in China, lifelong education legislation is a more realistic choice; the second is that the regulation of tutoring institutions by other legislations should be different from that of commercial subjects and private schools, and the normative strength of the former should be between the normative strength of the latter two. As for the choice of specific normative strength, it depends on the guarantee of the public welfare of education and the maximum utilization of supplementary role of tutoring.

Key words: off-campus education, tutoring, tutoring institutions, private schools, legal status