üChina: On July 22, the National Conference on Basic Education convened in Beijing, noting the establishment of the world's largest quality education system. President Xi Jinping emphasized fostering virtue through education and enhancing the quality of basic education.
üIndia:What began as outrage over a leaked medical school entrance exam has evolved into one of India's largest student protestsin recent years, sparking a nationwide reckoning over the education system. Thousands of students and citizens have rallied in major cities, calling for the education minister's resignation and a fundamental shift away from a high-pressure, exam-centric system.
üUnited States:A Brookings Institution report points out that the core teamsbehind Chinese AI companies such as DeepSeek and Manus are all domestically cultivated, overturning the assumption that studying in the U.S. is a prerequisite for innovation. The essence of US-China tech competition, the report argues, lies not in chips or subsidies, but in the culture, education systems, and learning paradigms that produce top-tier talent.
üInternational Organization: The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization and UNICEF released the Regional Main Report on Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (Second Round Assessment). The assessment reveals that the overall learning crisis among fifth-grade students in six Southeast Asian countries remains unresolved, with prominent gaps in educational equity. Accordingly, the report proposes ten policy recommendations.
China: The National Conference on Basic Education Convened, Announcing the Establishment of the World's Largest Quality Basic Education System
On July 22, the National Conference on Basic Education convened in Beijing. President Xi Jinping issued important instructions on basic education development. He emphasized the need to fully implementnational education policy, fostervirtue through education, advance the expansion of quality resources and improvement of basic education, firmly safeguard the bottom line of educational equity, and constantly open up new prospects for the high-quality development.
The conference summarized the current status and achievements of China's basic education. The country has 430,000 kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, serving 220 million students with 15.77 million full-time teachers, forming the world's largest quality basic education system. The “2023–2025 National Compulsory Education Quality Monitoring” shows that approximately 80% of students meet curriculum standards in basic competencies such as mathematics, Chinese, English, and science, while about 55% reach an excellent level, placing China among the leading ranks of global educational powers. Furthermore, student growth and development indicators are trending positively, withobesity rates and poor vision detection rates effectively contained.
Source:Ministry of Education of China
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/7_6cjWjq_no8o3ffpuNUeQ
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/GU9G6m6kqrXYsyyuIqodQA
Compiler:HE Yale, UNESCO-TEC
India: Medical Entrance Exam Leak Sparks Protests, Demanding Overhaul of India's Education System
Widespread student protests have erupted across India following a major leak in the medical entrance examination, with demonstrations spreading to multiple cities. In Mumbai, Delhi, and elsewhere, thousands of students and citizens have gathered to demand the resignation of the Union Education Minister. The protesters' demands have escalated from calls for a thorough investigation into the exam fraud to a systemic overhaul of the education system itself.
In response, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that those found responsible for the leak will face strict punishment. However, protesters argue that such measures are insufficient to address the deeply entrenched structural issues within the system. The movement has laid bare deeper concerns regarding the fairness of the system, the immense psychological toll on students, and widespread disillusionment with the government's handling of the crisis.
The government has not yet responded to the core demands of the protesters. The incident has affected over 2.2 million candidates, forcing them to retake the exam, while authorities have arrested 13 individuals in connection with the case.
Source:The Pie News
Compiler:XIA Yuxuan, UNESCO-TEC
United States:Brookings Institution Points to Basic Education Paradigm as Decisive Factor in US-China Tech Competition
Given that core AI companies like DeepSeek and Manus in China are primarily locally cultivated talents, overturning the old notion that “innovation requires studying in the US”, the American think tank Brookings Institution recently published a commentary stating that the essence of US-China tech competition lies not in chips or subsidies, but in the culture, educational systems, and learning paradigms that cultivate top talent.
The commentary notes that at the sociocultural level, in most American schools, students who diligently study STEM subjects are easily marginalized socially, and 93% of the population experiences math anxiety. In China, however, academic excellence is highly valued by society, presenting a sharp contrast. At the educational system level, although China is known for its exam-oriented approach, universities like Tsinghua and Peking are climbing in global rankings, and its large population base produces a considerable number of top talents; the US, which relies heavily on high-skilled immigrant talent, is seeing this pipeline shrink due to tightened visas and stricter scrutiny, while domestic students’ math scores have fallen to levels of 20 years ago. At the learning paradigm level, in the AI era, the algorithmic thinking (fixed rules) that China excels in is being replaced by machines, while the innovative thinking (open exploration) that the US excels in is becoming a core human value, yet the two must complement each other. China is promoting educational thinking reform, but resistance from exam-oriented inertia remains significant.
The conclusion points out that the US must implement systematic reforms in five areas, which are AI infrastructure, teacher training, curriculum reform, shifting societal attitudes, and establishing academic honor systems, to maintain its technological leadership in the US-China competition.
Source:Brookings Institution official website
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/why-china-is-winning-in-tech-and-what-the-us-is-overlooking/
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/creative-patterns-in-the-age-of-ai-securing-americas-education-edge/
Compilers:PANG Zhengpei, RIICE, Shanghai Normal University;FENGJiamiao, UNESCO-TEC
International Organization:The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization and UNICEF Released the Regional Main Report on Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (Second RoundAssessment)
Recently, the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization(SEAMEO) and the UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office jointly released the Regional Main Report on Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (Second Round).
The Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics is the largest primary learning assessment and capacity-building program in the Southeast Asian region. Officially launched in 2014, it completed its first round of assessment in 2019. Its core objectives are to generate cross-nationally comparable data on basic learning, enhance regional education monitoring capabilities, and promote the exchange of educational experiences and policy optimization among countries. The second round assessment, conducted in 2024, originally planned to cover seven countries.However, Timor-Leste withdrew due to internal reasons. Consequently, the final report includes valid data from only six countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam. In addition to subject tests in reading and mathematics, the assessment simultaneously conducted surveys targeting students, teachers, school principals, parents, and the education system level. This aimed to comprehensively review the deep-seated factors affecting basic learning and, by benchmarking against the 2019 results, analyze the development trajectory of regional education amidst multiple crises such as the pandemic, climate change, and economic fluctuations.
The results show that the overall regional learning crisis has not been fundamentally alleviated, with progress in reading proficiency nearly stagnant. In the second round assessment, only 53% of students in the region reached the minimum proficiency level in reading, and 67% in mathematics. Shortcomings in educational equity remain prominent, with family socioeconomic status being the most significant factor affecting student performance. Based on these findings, the report proposes ten core policy recommendations, including increasing investment in basic learning with a focus on disadvantaged groups, enhancing the resilience of education systems, deepening the advancement of educational equity, strengthening the teaching workforce, and promoting data-driven decision-making.
Source: Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics Official Website
https://www.seaplm.org/index.php/sea-plm-2024/regional-results-2024
Compilers:Shen Huayu, RIICE, Shanghai Normal University;He Yale, UNESCO-TEC
