China Education Daily, December 31, 2024
Review of Key Developments: In March, the State Council Executive Meeting emphasized the need to continuously narrow the educational gaps between regions, urban and rural areas, schools, and groups, and to provide more equitable and higher-quality compulsory education. In April, the Ministry of Education launched a Special Campaign for Transparent Enrollment in Compulsory Education, focusing on cracking down on behind-the-scenes maneuvers and unfair recruitment of top students, while strictly investigating all fee-related practices linked to school enrollment. In October, the Notice on Adjusting National Scholarship and Grant Policies for Higher Education and Senior Secondary Education was issued. In November, the Preschool Education Law of the People's Republic of China was adopted after voting...
A strong capacity to safeguard people's wellbeing is a key feature of a socialist education powerhouse with Chinese characteristics. Enhancing this capacity means adhering to a people-centered approach in running education, delivering education that satisfies the people, and continuously improving the inclusiveness, accessibility, and convenience of public education services. It also involves addressing the pressing concerns and difficulties of the people regarding education, ensuring that the fruits of educational reform and development benefit all people more equitably and extensively, and leveraging education’s fundamental role in promoting the all-round development of individuals and common prosperity for all. In 2024, China further strengthened the wellbeing safeguards in education, making significant progress in responding to the people’s growing demand for quality education.
Promoting Quality Improvement in Basic Education to Deliver People-Satisfying Education
Compulsory education is vital to every family’s interests and the future of the nation and its people. In March, the State Council Executive Meeting stressed that efforts should focus on upgrading school-running conditions, improving education quality, and enhancing public satisfaction, with the goal of narrowing educational gaps between regions, urban and rural areas, schools, and groups, and providing more equitable and higher-quality compulsory education. To adapt to demographic changes and the process of new-type urbanization, it is necessary to proactively assess changes in demand for compulsory education, enhance the flexibility and adaptability of resource allocation, and increase the tilt of fiscal funds for compulsory education toward weak links, so as to address shortcomings in the development of compulsory education. Against the backdrop of China’s comprehensive achievement of basic balanced development in compulsory education, this represents a strong measure to further advance the high-quality and balanced development of basic education.
Providing quality preschool education and ensuring access to early childhood care is crucial for the healthy growth of children and social harmony and stability, making it a major wellbeing initiative. In November, the Preschool Education Law of the People's Republic of China was adopted. This law clarifies the government’s leading role and guarantee responsibilities, consolidates the fundamental and guiding status of preschool education, and provides a strong institutional guarantee for the high-quality and sustainable development of preschool education.
Upholding the Bottom Line of Standardized Management to Foster a Sound Educational Ecosystem
To address illegal and non-compliant practices, violations of the laws of education, and utilitarian and short-sighted tendencies in basic education—thereby improving public satisfaction with education—the Ministry of Education has taken a series of robust measures. In April, it launched the Special Campaign for Transparent Enrollment in Compulsory Education, requiring a comprehensive investigation into prominent issues of public concern, resolute crackdowns on behind-the-scenes maneuvers and unfair recruitment of top students, and the improvement of long-term mechanisms for fair enrollment, so as to further enhance the people’s satisfaction with education. In May, the General Office of the Ministry of Education issued the Notice on Launching the Year of Standardized Management Initiative for Basic Education, which focuses on addressing three key areas: breaches of safety bottom lines, disorganized daily management, and ethical misconduct among teachers. This initiative is an important part of enhancing the governance capacity of basic education and delivering people-satisfying education in the new era.
Prioritizing Health to Care for the Physical and Mental Wellbeing of Youths
In May, the Ministry of Education launched the first National Students' Mental Health Publicity and Education Month. At the start of the new academic year, many regions across the country extended the duration of break time between classes in primary and secondary schools from 10 minutes to 15 minutes—a practical measure to implement the health first philosophy. In November, the Ministry of Education and two other ministries jointly issued the Notice on Effectively Strengthening Myopia Prevention and Control in Kindergartens and Primary Schools (a Critical Stage), requiring early intervention and focused efforts to prevent and control myopia during this critical period. Through various activities, a positive social atmosphere of caring about the physical and mental wellbeing of youths has been fostered, raising awareness and literacy among teachers, students, and parents, and promoting the healthy development of students.
Strengthening Education-Related Wellbeing Safeguards to Address Pressing Concerns
In October, the Notice on Adjusting National Scholarship and Grant Policies for Higher Education and Senior Secondary Education was released, which explicitly expands the coverage of scholarship and grant policies and increases their standards. Among the adjustments, the number of national scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate students has doubled: the annual quota for undergraduate national scholarships has increased from 60,000 to 120,000, and the standard has risen from 8,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan per student per year. The funding standard for national grants at the senior secondary level has also been further increased. As the student financial aid system becomes increasingly sound and services more warm and accessible, more and more students are gaining motivation to strive for self-improvement through such support.
Employment is the most fundamental aspect of people’s wellbeing, bearing on the vital interests of the people, the healthy development of the economy and society, and national stability. In September, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council issued the Opinions on Implementing the Employment-First Strategy to Promote High-Quality and Sufficient Employment. To support high-quality employment for graduates and strengthen basic wellbeing safeguards, the Ministry of Education has made every effort to help graduates secure employment by organizing initiatives such as the Hundred-Day Sprint for college graduates' employment and the campaign to build a system for promoting and serving college graduates' employment and entrepreneurship.
As China’s social and economic development continues to advance, the whole society’s expectations for educational equity and high-quality development are constantly rising. Therefore, there is still a long way to go in delivering people-satisfying education, and sustained efforts are required. Looking ahead, we need to optimize the allocation of regional educational resources, establish a supply mechanism for basic public education services that aligns with demographic changes, promote the universal and inclusive development of preschool education, further optimize the layout of urban and rural compulsory education schools, and advance the diversified development of senior secondary schools—all to better meet the people’s expectation of accessing quality education.
We must continue to improve the educational ecosystem by further addressing illegal and non-compliant practices, violations of the laws of education, and utilitarian and short-sighted tendencies in basic education. We need to promote the high-quality development of vocational education, enhance its attractiveness and adaptability, and establish a sound lifelong education and training system with diverse pathways for progression and multiple channels for growth, so as to serve the all-round and sustainable development of individuals. We should optimize the layout of higher education, focus on resolving the imbalances and inadequacies in higher education development, and advance the high-quality development of higher education—ensuring that the fruits of educational reform and development benefit all people more equitably and extensively, and promoting social equity and justice through educational equity. Through systematic top-level design and deepening reform, we will continue to address the questions of the times in development and respond to the people’s demand for quality education.
(The author is a Research Fellow at the International Centre for Teacher Education (UNESCO International Centre for Teacher Education, TEC) of Shanghai Normal University.)
