Education is crucial to stopping the intergenerational transfer of poverty, said Minister of Education Yuan Guiren at a panel discussion with representatives from education circles during the fourth session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on March 8.
Yuan said poverty relief is a systematic project that requires efforts from the whole society.
“It’s necessary to improve poor people’s thinking and eliminate their ignorance for poverty alleviation.,” Yuan said.
He vowed to strengthen training in information technology for rural teachers, provide more resources on educational information, and promote better integration of information technology and teaching.
The ministry will continue to promote secondary education in poverty-stricken areas, Yuan said.
“Meanwhile, students who are not enrolled by high schools in poor areas will have access to secondary vocational schools to learn professional skills,” he added.
The minister listened to the opinions and suggestions offered by 14 CPPCC members, including Ma Min, Party chief of Central China Normal University, Rao Zihe, a member of the standing committee of the China Association for Science and Technology, and Zhang Jieting, chairman of the Beijing SIWA Group, a large enterprise focusing on education, real estate and investment.
When commenting on the construction of a group of world-class universities and disciplines in China, Rao Zihe called for equal attention to ordinary higher educational institutions and reasonable allocation of educational resources so as to ensure fair opportunity for every college student.
Yuan said the construction of world-class universities should also cover non-public colleges and vocational higher educational institutions, provided they can meet the designated standards.
He explained that world-class universities should choose their disciplines and help facilitate students’ learning while promoting improved systems for personnel development and performance-driven salaries.
“We encourage more universities and disciplines to become world-class to serve the nation,” Yuan stated.
Non-public education was one of the hot issues at the panel discussion.
Yuan affirmed the status and function of non-public education, which popularizes education and offers more choice for students. He also spoke highly of their reforms, which were carried out earlier than the governmental ones.
“Non-public schools can meet people’s demands for high-quality educational resources and deserve support,” Yuan said.
He suggested government subsidies and incentive funds, and government purchasing of educational services, to guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of the non-public education sector.
