BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese lawmakers are considering specific penalties for those who steal the identities of others to enroll in a school or college.

The draft amendment to the nation's Education Law was presented Wednesday to the lawmakers for the first reading at the ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Such impostors will have their admission qualifications revoked and be barred from relevant national examinations for one to three years, according to the draft.

Impostors who have been awarded academic diplomas will have their diplomas revoked and those who have been employed by public institutions will be dismissed, the draft says.

Acts of identity theft that constitute a crime shall be investigated to determine criminal responsibility, it adds.

Those who allow others to illegally use their identities to enroll in a school or college shall be barred from relevant national examinations for one to three years, with illegal gains confiscated, the draft says.

Identity theft for college admissions has been criminalized in Amendment XI to the Criminal Law, which was passed at the previous legislative session in December 2020, following a series of related scandals that rocked the nation.

Amendment XI to the Criminal Law stipulates that impostors who steal others' identities to enroll in a university or college shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of less than three years, short-term detention or restriction, and shall also be fined. Enditem