China's State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs is reportedly set to issue a new set of guidelines to make sure unqualified and incompetent foreign English teachers are not employed by schools.

"Expats who want a job as an English teacher will have to obtain a teaching certificate in China, just as Chinese teachers do," Qiu Xusheng, a State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs senior official, said.

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Qiu warned that if people have been hired illegally, "we will report the facts to the relevant administrative departments, such as the public security department."

According to Shanghaiist, the administrative board has released only a few details yet.

However, based on the guidelines rolled out last December 2015, expats from non-Anglophone countries need to comply with two major qualifications. First, the applicant must possess a bachelor's degree from a university in an English-speaking country. Second, he or she must have at least two years of teaching experience; however, the experience can be waived if the applicant holds an accredited TEFL certificate or has a teaching certificate from his or her home country.

"The new policy is in any sense a good thing. The government is taking steps aimed at improving the level of expat teaching in China," Chris Stevens, a global educator working for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt International, said. "Students can hardly learn a lot from teachers who lack systematic training."

He further added that he cannot find any reasons why China should lower its standards for English teachers.

Before, it was easy for English-speaking expats to land a job in China, as they only used their mother tongues and charisma. But with China's demand for a more competent education, tougher application policies are expected to be implemented by the end of the month, according to China Daily. 

TagsEnglish teachers, china