BEIJING, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Education has asked universities to offer a compulsory course on psychological health to all students in their freshmen year.

The course should be allocated two credits and about 32 to 36 class hours, according to a guideline on promoting psychological health among college students published on the ministry's website Sunday.

It asked for the development of online courses and the use of new media platforms in promoting psychological health knowledge.

There should be at least two qualified full-time psychologists at each higher education institution, said the guideline, which also applies to private universities.

Besides training, it also required universities to improve on-campus psychological consulting services and to put in place a sound mechanism to protect students' privacy.