The Ministry of Home Affairs has given news publications eighteen more months to abide by a controversial amendment to hire editors with at least academic degrees as a qualification.

The new amendment makes it a requirement for news editors to have a journalism degree and five years of experience in the field.

The ministry earlier gave news publications until March 18 to change their current editors that do not fit the requirements, and then extended the deadline to March 25.

The ministry said a degree-level course will be made available for the current editors.

The new rules also require news publications to hire a new executive within 15 days if the current one is jailed, or face closure. It also requires publications to send the ministry confirmation letters when replacing editors.

The new rules have been greatly criticized by news outlets. While lawmakers do not require a higher education, the amendment has targeted prominent journalists with years of experience in the field but with no degrees. The ministry’s amendment will cause major overhauls in news outlets.