BEIJING -- China's Ministry of Education (MOE) will tighten supervision of after-school training institutions in 2019.

A campaign was launched last year targeting irregularities in after-school classes and training, forming a list of licensed institutions and ensuring the institutions followed basic rules and orderly practice, Chen Dongsheng, an official with the MOE, said at a national conference on educational training Tuesday.

However, new problems emerged such as more secretive violations, fueled by parental eagerness to get children ahead of their age group, Chen said.

Education authorities together with other departments will focus the supervision on key ares and key periods of time, such as winter and summer vacations, and seriously deal with such malpractice, according to Chen.

Chen pledged strict supervision of after-school classes on the school curriculum to ensure that they better focused on enhancing the well-rounded development of students.

He also called for efforts to promote scientific educational concepts.