More than one month after the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee banned officials from enrolling in pricey business training programs, the craze for Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) programs has ebbed in China. It's reported that few officials have registered for the fall semester, and many of those already in such programs have quietly quit.

The move to weed out wrongdoings at business schools has been hailed by the public. EMBA programs are designed to meet the educational needs of mid-career professionals, providing them with training in management and leadership skills. However, the programs have been accused in China of serving as a platform for the exchange of interests between officials and business people, and a hotbed for corruption.

A noticeable number of participants in EMBA programs were from government agencies. Statistics from the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University show that 7 percent of its EMBA students came from government departments or institutions in the 2013 fall program.

Many EMBA programs boasted of the number of officials on their rosters to attract wealthy entrepreneurs. According to the Beijing Youth Daily, the University of Science and Technology of China in its 2010 promotional campaign trumpeted a star-studded list of official students, which included three mayors.

Such a twisted facet of EMBA programs also drove the skyrocketing tuition fees. Many business managers and entrepreneurs attended costly EMBA programs to seek opportunities to mingle with powerful politicians, rather than seeking essential management knowledge. This could lead to bribery, rent-seeking and corruption.

Besides, the high tuition fees for EMBA programs also raised public suspicion over the misuse of public money. Anti-graft researchers pointed out that it was the government that paid for some, if not all of these high fees for officials. Such a waste of public money is also a form of corruption.

And given China's widening anti-corruption campaign, curbing the abnormal phenomenon of officials attending EMBA programs is a laudable step, demonstrating the resolution of the central government in cracking down on corruption.

EMBA programs in China have been criticized for poor quality and for having little benefit for attendees' competence. It's high time that career education returns to a rational course in China. Business schools should make more effort to provide quality management training. Let's hope it could embrace a new start as a platform to offer pragmatic management education for senior professionals.