Recently Minister of Education Chen Baosheng visited Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (hereinafter referred to as Guangxi) and Anhui Province to evaluate the progress of comprehensive education reform and the CPC history learning campaign.
During his stay in Guangxi, Chen met with Lu Xinshe, Secretary of Party Committee of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Lan Tianli, Chairman of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Chen also visited a number of schools, including Nanning Yuexiulu Primary School, Liuzhou Jingxing Primary School, Nanning No. 17 Middle School, Nanning No. 2 High School, Liuzhou Tieyi Senior High School, Liuzhou Vocational & Technical College, Guangxi Medical University, and Guangxi University of Science and Technology.
Chen pointed out that during the 13th-Five-Year-Plan period, progress in Guangxi’s education sector had picked up its pace and caught up with the rapid development of the country, allowing a major breakthrough. During the COVID-19 epidemic in particular, Guangxi introduced timely and effective responses and managed to safely reopen schools early. Moreover, school-age children from registered poor families in Guangxi who were deprived of education or dropped out of school all returned to school now. The dropout rate of school-age children from non-registered poor families was, for the first time, reduced to zero. Also, the employment rate of college graduates remained stable.
Chen stressed that in 2021, the first year of the 14th Five-Year-Plan period and the CPC's 100th founding anniversary, it was of great significance to further improve education. Guangxi should pursue its efforts to put into practice measures formulated in the Plan on Deepening the Reform of Education Evaluation in the New Era. Measures to be taken include: 1) ensuring that general government expenditure on education increase year by year; 2) ensuring that average education expenditure per students increase year by year; 3) regulating the use of textbooks according to national standards; 4) reducing class sizes in senior high schools; 5) promoting school-industry partnerships; 6) reducing the workload of primary and middle school teachers; 7) refining recruitment policies for school counselors in universities and colleges; and 8) regulating Chinese-foreign joint-degree programs.
During his stay in Anhui Province, Chen met with Li Jinbin, Secretary of Party Committee of Anhui Province and Wang Qingxian, Governor of Anhui Province. Chen also inspected a number of schools, including Hefei Jinputao Primary School and Hefei No.4 High School.
Chen attended a meeting on education, where he listened to reports given by representatives from Anhui’s education authorities and schools, including Anhui Provincial Education Committee, municipal governments of Wuhu and Ma’anshan, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei University of Technology, and Anhui University.
Chen pointed out that Anhui had made remarkable progress in education. Especially, Anhui has produced replicable models on the teaching of ethics and morality lessons, education informatization, balanced development of compulsory education, reform of national college entrance examination and vocational education. He pointed out that to achieve the goals set in the 14th-Five-Year Plan and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035, the following measures should be taken: 1) optimizing the structure of higher education, and enabling higher education institutions to better serve the country’s economy and social development; 2) Improving vocational education, and preparing students to become highly employable and skilled professionals; 3) Promoting equity in basic education, and ensuring balanced allocation of educational resources on a city-wide scale; 4) Promoting education informatization and improving teachers’ ICT skills; 5) Enhancing the learning of “Core Socialist Values”; 6) Building a better learning environment by taking a series of new actions, including reducing the burden of homework, limiting students’ use of smartphones, supporting good reading and sleep habits and promoting students’ health and well-being; and 7) Ensuring that teachers abide by their processional code of ethics and further developing their pedagogical competence.
With regards to the CPC history learning campaign, Chen said this was one of the major work focuses of this year. Efforts should be made to enhance research on CPC history, develop a teaching workforce specialized in CPC history, and promote the use of textbooks on CPC history. Chinese teachers and students are encouraged to get a deeper understanding of the CPC’s endeavors and achievements made over the past century, and develop a stronger conviction to realize the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
