Schools and universities can hire coaches to offer athletic guidance to students and alleviate the shortage of sports teachers, a new guideline said on Friday.

The guideline, jointly issued by the General Administration of Sport and three other departments, said schools at all levels can all establish full- or part-time coaching posts.

School coaches are responsible for teaching students sports skills, conducting physical education training and identifying future sports talent.

They are also in charge of organizing sports competitions, managing sports teams, teaching students how to prevent and recover from injuries and establishing and managing sports clubs, the guideline said.

Local governments can reserve a certain number of coaching jobs for retired high-level athletes.

Coaches can become sports teachers after obtaining teaching certificates, while teachers can coach after becoming certified to do so.

Schools can hire coaches openly as needed and determine the best candidates based on merits, said the guideline, which also stressed that it is not requiring all schools to hire coaches.