1月28日，教育部留学服务中心发布公告，对于2023年春季学期（南半球秋季学期）及以后仍采用远程方式学习（包括新入学和继续学习的情况）所获国（境）外文凭证书，中心将不再提供认证服务。
China will stop accrediting foreign diplomas and degrees obtained via online courses starting from the spring semester this year as major overseas study destinations have opened their borders, according to the Ministry of Education's Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange.
为跨境远程文凭提供认证，是教育部留学服务中心在新冠疫情爆发后推出的特殊认证规则。对于受疫情影响，被迫选择通过在线方式修读部分或者全部课程的留学人员，在满足国（境）外高校规定的学位授予条件后，其所获得的学位可以获得正常认证。
Since 2020, the center has accredited the qualifications earned by Chinese students who were supposed to study in-person but were forced to study partly or fully online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The accreditation is important for the students to find jobs in China.
“目前，主要留学目的地均已开放边境，国（境）外院校全面恢复线下授课。为切实保障广大留学人员的利益，维护教育公平，教育部留学服务中心决定取消疫情期间的特殊认证规则。”《公告》称。
However, as the pandemic situation in major overseas study destinations and China changes, the center will stop the temporary measures from the new spring semester (fall semester in the Southern Hemisphere), the center said in a notice on Saturday.
由于各国各校学期设置差异较大，不管是已开学还是尚未开学的国家和院校，学生都应尽快返校学习。
It encourages students to return to their universities as soon as possible given the differences in teaching schedules of universities in different countries.
对因客观原因无法在2023年春季学期（南半球秋季学期）返校的留学人员，教育部留学服务中心表示，该类人员须留存好与此相关的书面证明材料，并在获颁文凭证书后，提交认证申请时一并提供，中心将结合具体情形，完成对相关文凭证书的个案评估。
Students still unable to return to their universities in the new semester due to force majeure need to have written proof and submit it to the center when they want to get their qualifications accredited, it said.
21世纪教育研究院院长熊丙奇表示，疫情期间，部分境外院校和中介机构以营利为目的，增开大量低质的在线课程。取消特殊认证制度，是维护出国留学人员权利的及时之举，是以严格的认证制度清除“垃圾留学”。
Xiong Bingqi, director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said that, to seek profit, some foreign institutions have offered distance learning programs with low quality, so while allowing students who cannot travel to overseas universities to have their qualifications recognized shows concern and care for the students, stopping the temporary measure safeguards educational equality.
随着几乎所有出国留学目的国都已经开放边境，国外(境外)大学恢复线下授课，以及我国疫情防控进入新阶段，出国留学人员到录取学校接受线下教育已经不再有障碍，之前针对疫情形势采取的特殊认证规则，也就没有继续存在的理由了。
While the barriers posed by COVID-19 for Chinese students studying overseas have been removed, there is no reason for them to continue studying online, he said.
熊丙奇还提出，随着出国留学规模增大，“海归”身价正急剧贬值，出国留学人员如果只看重获得一张文凭，而不是提升自身的能力和素质，那将得不偿失。我国出国留学中，存在部分是没有任何教育价值的“垃圾留学”，清除“垃圾留学”，既要靠严格的认证制度，又要靠出国留学人员理性对待留学选择。
With the number of Chinese students studying overseas increasing over the years, the appeal of overseas degrees in the domestic job market is declining, so a strict accreditation system is required to weed out students who just obtained a foreign diploma but learned little, he added.
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