Correctly Handle Key Relationships in Building a Leading Country in Education

At the National Conference on Education, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly noted that it's imperative to correctly handle "five key relationships" in building a leading country in education in order to achieve the established goals.

General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed at the National Conference on Education that building a leading country in education is a complex, systematic endeavour. We must focus on the fundamental task of fostering virtue and educating people, with a view to the goal of nurturing a new generation of capable young people with sound moral grounding, intellectual ability, physical vigour, aesthetic sensibility and work skills, who are builders of socialism and will carry forward the socialist cause. We must follow the path of socialism in managing schools, uphold and apply systems thinking, and correctly handle key relationships between supporting national strategies and meeting the needs of the people, between knowledge learning and well-rounded development, between cultivating talent and meeting societal needs, between adhering to rules and encouraging vitality, and between taking root in China and drawing on international experience.

The "five key relationships" directly address the key issues in building a leading country in education. They are interrelated and form an organic whole, revealing the scientific laws governing the construction of a leading country in education. This helps clarify our thinking and points out the direction for deepening comprehensive educational reform.

It reflects the organic unity of the strategic guiding role and fundamental value pursuit of a leading country in education to correctly handle the relationship between supporting national strategies and meeting the needs of the people. Education is the foundation for building a leading country in education and achieving national rejuvenation. To build a leading country in education, we must implement strategic measures, coordinating the implementation of the strategy for invigorating China through science and education, the workforce development strategy and the innovation-driven development strategy. We should focus on cultivating talent urgently needed by national strategies, promote the emergence of original and disruptive technological achievements, and support the development of new quality productive forces. Education is a major concern for people's livelihoods, and achieving a fundamental shift from "having access to education" to "having access to good education" directly impacts the immediate interests of millions of households. We must focus on meeting people’s needs for more diverse higher quality education, better allocate education resources across regions, promote the balanced development of quality compulsory education, and gradually narrow the gaps between urban and rural areas, different regions, schools, and groups, and effectively resolve the pressing difficulties and problems that concern the people most in education.

It reflects a profound understanding of the laws of education and teaching, as well as the growth patterns of students, to correctly handle the relationship between knowledge acquisition and overall development. Acquiring knowledge is the primary responsibility of students and serves as the foundation and pathway for enhancing their abilities. Well-rounded development is an intrinsic requirement and objective law for the healthy growth of students. To nurture a new generation of capable young people with sound moral grounding, intellectual ability, physical vigour, aesthetic sensibility and work skills, who are builders of socialism and will carry forward the socialist cause, it’s necessary to strengthen and improve ideological and political education in schools, educating and guiding young students to strengthen their belief in Marxism, conviction in socialism with Chinese characteristics, and confidence in realising national rejuvenation. We must uphold the principle of the students’ balanced development in sound moral grounding, intellectual ability, physical vigour, aesthetic sensibility and work skills, reverse the unscientific educational evaluation trends, reverse the unscientific orientation of educational evaluation and resolutely overcome the "five-onlys", namely, only evaluating students by scores, entrance rates to higher-level schools, diplomas, theses, and professional titles. This aims to promote the students’ physical and mental health and well-rounded development, ensuring that every child has the opportunity to shine in life.

It reflects the practical requirements for the development of education cause to correctly handle the relationship between cultivating talent and meeting societal needs. Education, technology, and talent are foundational and strategic supports for Chinese modernisation. Technological innovation relies on talent, and talent cultivation depends on education. Educational activities, especially talent cultivation, must align with the demands of the times and meet societal needs. To manage this significant relationship effectively, we need to optimise the layout of higher education, improve the mechanisms for adjusting academic disciplines and talent cultivation models, enhance the systems for student internships and practical training, and promote the alignment of supply and demand, thereby fully leveraging education's crucial supporting role in facilitating economic and social development.

It reflects the importance of effective school management and deepening comprehensive educational reform to correctly handle the relationship between adhering to rules and encouraging vitality. China is a socialist country led by the Communist Party of China (CPC), and the leading country in education we aim to build is a leading country in education of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Schools at all levels must operate under the overall leadership of the Party and adhere to legal and regulatory guidelines to conduct educational activities in an orderly manner. Adhering to rules is the fundamental prerequisite and necessary requirement. Adhering to rules and encouraging vitality are the ideal states for the university. To correctly handle this significant relationship, we need to modernise the system and capacity for governance in education, improve the schools’ management systems, enhance the law-based governance in education and management levels, and effectively prevent and defuse security risks in the schools. We should deepen the comprehensive educational reform, take reform and innovation as the driving force to invigourate various educational institutions at all levels and stimulate the enthusiasm and creativity of both teachers and students.

It reflects the intrinsic requirement for building a leading country in education to correctly handle the relationship between taking root in China and drawing on international experience. Running education by taking root in China fully demonstrates confidence in the path of developing education of socialism with Chinese characteristics and highlights the guidance of important historical experience. We must deepen the opening up of education, and balance "bringing in" and "going global". International academic exchanges and cooperation on education and scientific research should be expanded, and China should actively participate in global education governance. While contributing Chinese wisdom, we should also draw on advanced international experiences to better support for building a leading country in education.

Along the path of developing socialist education with Chinese characteristics, we must correctly handle the “five key relationships”, keep in mind the “matters of national significance”. In this way, Chinese education will undoubtedly contribute even greater strength to advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts on the new journey.

Source: China Education Daily, 14 September 2024