Regions across the country have required schools to return unused accommodation fees to students as this year's new term has been delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
由于COVID-19爆发，今年的新学期开学被迫推迟，全国各地区都要求学校向学生退还未使用的住宿费。
Schools that have charged students a whole school year's fees for boarding at school should refund the part that wasn't used during the second semester, according to a notice by the Education Department of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.
根据宁夏回族自治区教育厅的通知，向学生收取了整学年寄宿费的学校应退还第二学期未使用的部分。
A school year in China normally starts in September and is composed of two semesters-the first from autumn to winter and the second from spring to summer, with five months for each.
中国的学年通常在9月开始，由两个学期组成-第一个学期从秋季到冬季，第二个学期从春季到夏季，每个学期五个月。
Hebei province in North China has issued a similar notice to local schools. It said schools should collect students' accommodation fees according to their actual length of residence during the period of COVID-19.
中国北方的河北省也向当地学校发出了类似的通知。通知显示，学校应该根据COVID-19期间的实际住宿时间来收取学生的住宿费。
Zhou Jiong, a junior student at Hebei Normal University, said she hasn't received a notice from the school about returning to school for the semester, which was scheduled to begin in February.
河北师范大学大三学生周炯说，她还没有收到学校关于返校学习的通知，原本本学期是在二月份开始的。
"Our boarding fee for a school year is 600 yuan ($85) and it was charged at the beginning of the school year," she said, adding the school hasn't given a notice about the refund either.
她说：“我们每学年的寄宿费为600元人民币(85美元)，在学年开始时收取。”她补充说，学校目前也没有给出退款的通知。
"I think the refund will be collected when we go back to school," Zhou said.
周说：“我认为我们返校时应该会退还相关住宿费。”
Universities and colleges in the province are still suspended, as are primary schools and kindergartens. Senior students in high schools returned to school on April 23 while the graduating students in middle schools will resume classes on Thursday after the May Day holiday ends.
该省的大学院校和小学、幼儿园仍然停课。高中生于4月23日返校，而中学毕业生将在“五一”假期结束后的周四重新开始上课。
Other provinces, including Zhejiang, Sichuan and Shaanxi, have publicized similar refund policies. Some places are resuming classes in batches.
包括浙江，四川和陕西在内的其他省份也公布了类似的退款政策。一些地方正在批量复课。
The Education Department of Sichuan said related fees should be refunded by the end of the spring semester. The province has also required schools to set up a hotline to address refunds.
四川省教育厅表示，相关费用应在春季学期末退还。该省还要求学校设立热线电话以解决退款问题。
The Ministry of Education issued a warning last month concerning school fees, on account of some schools and kindergartens starting to collect tuition fees or charges for preschool education when the new semester was still being delayed.
上个月，由于一些学校和幼儿园在新学期仍被推迟时开始预交学费，教育部发出了关于学费的警告，。
Schools are not allowed to collect the fees before students go back to school and resume the semester, the warning said.
警告说，学生在重返学校并重新开始这个学期教学之前，学校不得收取费用。
The ministry also said schools should provide financial aid to students with financial difficulties, including those infected by the novel coronavirus and ones whose family has been affected by COVID-19.
该教育部还表示，学校应向经济困难的学生提供经济援助，包括那些受到新型冠状病毒感染的学生以及那些家庭受到COVID-19影响的学生。
