Beijing, May 29 (Xinhua) — The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee conducted its fifth group study session on the afternoon of May 29, focusing on building a strong education system. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the session and emphasized that a prosperous education system leads to a prosperous nation, and a strong education system leads to a strong nation. Building a strong education system serves as a strategic precursor to fully establishing a modern socialist powerhouse, a crucial pillar for achieving high-level self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology, an effective pathway to promote common prosperity for all people, and a foundational project for advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese modernization. It is imperative to fully implement the Party's education policy, uphold a people-centered approach to education development, proactively plan ahead, effectively respond to changes, and vigorously open new horizons. We must accelerate the modernization of education, use the power of education to cultivate the foundation of people's happiness, and strengthen the nation's prosperity through a robust education system, thereby providing solid support for the comprehensive advancement of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Qiu Yong, Secretary of the Party Committee of Tsinghua University and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, provided an explanation on this issue and put forward work suggestions. Members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee listened carefully to the explanation and engaged in discussions.

After listening to the explanations and discussions, Xi Jinping delivered an important speech. He pointed out that since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee has adhered to the principle of prioritizing education as a fundamental national and Party strategy. It has made major decisions to accelerate the modernization of education and build China into a leading educational power, achieving historic accomplishments and transformative progress in education in the new era. China has established the world's largest education system, with the overall level of its educational modernization ranking among the upper-middle tier globally. According to calculations, China's current educational strength index ranks 23rd worldwide, a significant rise of 26 places from 2012, making it the fastest-improving country. This fully demonstrates that the path of socialist education with Chinese characteristics is entirely correct.

Xi Jinping emphasized that the educational powerhouse we aim to build is one rooted in socialism with Chinese characteristics. It must be fundamentally guaranteed by the Party's full leadership over education, with fostering virtue and nurturing talents as its core mission. The fundamental goal is to cultivate individuals for the Party and talents for the nation, with serving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation as a crucial mandate. The basic approach involves modernizing educational concepts, systems, institutions, content, methods, and governance, with supporting and leading Chinese modernization as its central function. Ultimately, the aim is to deliver education that satisfies the people.

Xi Jinping noted that the fundamental questions of education—what to cultivate, how to cultivate, and for whom to cultivate—are also the core issues in building an educational powerhouse. The purpose of our efforts is to nurture generations of well-rounded socialist builders and successors who are morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and laborally developed, as well as generations of pillars capable of undertaking major responsibilities in socialist modernization. This ensures a steady succession of talent for the Party's cause and the construction of a modern socialist China. We must persistently use Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to guide and inspire students, strengthen education on core socialist values, and help them foster firm ideals and convictions, always listening to and following the Party, and dedicating themselves to the nation and its people. We must uphold reform and innovation, advance the integrated development of ideological and political education across primary, secondary, and higher education, and enhance the relevance and appeal of ideological and political courses. Additionally, we must improve our capacity to educate through the internet, solidifying ideological and political work and ideological education in schools during the internet era.

Xi Jinping stressed that high-quality development should be upheld as the lifeline of education at all levels and of all types, and efforts should be accelerated to build a high-quality education system. Building a strong education system is rooted in basic education. The more solid the basic education is, the steadier the steps toward a strong education system will be and the more sustainable the momentum will be. We should promote the universal, inclusive, safe and high-quality development of preschool education, and advance the high-quality, balanced development of compulsory education and the integration of urban and rural education. Basic education should not only consolidate students' knowledge foundation, but also stimulate their interest in advocating science and exploring the unknown, and cultivate their exploratory and innovative thinking. The whole society should foster a scientific outlook on talent, success and education, accelerate the reversal of the tendency of utilitarian education, and form a healthy educational environment and ecology. Higher education is the leader in building a strong education system. It is of paramount importance to accelerate the development of world-class universities and disciplines with Chinese characteristics, vigorously strengthen the development of basic disciplines, emerging disciplines and interdisciplinary disciplines, promote scientific research and innovation in line with the world's scientific and technological frontiers and the country's major strategic needs, and continuously improve the original innovation capability and the quality of talent cultivation. We should build a learning society and a learning nation where lifelong learning is pursued by all, so that everyone can learn anytime and anywhere. We should continuously raise the educational level of our people, comprehensively improve the development of human resources, and promote well-rounded development of the people.

Xi Jinping pointed out that serving high-quality development is an important task in building a strong education system. Building China into a strong education system, a strong country in science and technology, and a strong talent nation is inherently consistent and mutually reinforcing. The three should be integrated and advanced in a coordinated manner to create a multiplier effect in promoting high-quality development. We should further strengthen science and engineering education, and independently cultivate top-notch innovative talents to provide talent support for solving China's key and core technological problems. We should systematically analyze the development trends and gaps of talents in all fields in China, dynamically adjust and optimize the discipline setting of higher education according to the development trend of science and technology, focus on the country's major strategic needs, and cultivate strategic talents and urgently needed talents in a targeted manner, so as to enhance the support and contribution of education to high-quality development. We should coordinate vocational education, higher education and continuing education, promote the integration of vocational and general education, the integration of industry and education, and the integration of science and education, and continuously cultivate high-quality technical and skilled talents, great craftsmen and skilled craftsmen.

Xi Jinping emphasized that the transition from a large education system to a strong education system represents a systematic leap and qualitative transformation, which must be driven by reform and innovation. It is essential to adopt a systematic approach, coordinating reforms in educational methods, school operation models, management systems, and support mechanisms, resolutely eliminating all ideological constraints and institutional barriers that hinder the high-quality development of education, and comprehensively enhancing the modernization of the education governance system and governance capabilities. Promoting educational equity should be integrated into all aspects and stages of deepening comprehensive reforms in the education sector, narrowing the gaps between urban and rural areas, regions, schools, and different groups, striving to ensure that every child has access to fair and quality education, and better meeting the public’s demand for "quality schooling." Reforms in educational evaluation for the new era must be deepened to establish a world-class evaluation system that involves multiple stakeholders and aligns with China’s realities. Efforts to develop and manage teaching materials must be strengthened, firmly upholding the correct political direction and value orientation, and meticulously crafting high-quality materials that nurture the mind and enhance wisdom. Digital education is a crucial breakthrough for China to explore new pathways and establish new advantages in educational development. Further advancing digital education will provide effective support for personalized learning, lifelong learning, expanding the coverage of high-quality educational resources, and the modernization of education.

Xi Jinping emphasized the need to refine strategies for opening up education to the world, effectively coordinating efforts to both "bring in" and "go global," and making good use of world-class educational resources and innovative elements to establish China as a major global education hub with strong influence. He called for active participation in global education governance, vigorously promoting the "Study in China" brand, telling China's stories well, sharing its experiences, and amplifying its voice, thereby enhancing the international influence and discourse power of Chinese education.

Xi stressed the importance of the teaching profession in education, calling for efforts to train a contingent of high-caliber teachers with professional competence as the most important foundational work in building a strong education system. A teacher training system with Chinese characteristics should be improved to cultivate a high-quality, professional teaching workforce that is virtuous, competent, well-structured and full of vitality, he said. Xi called for efforts to foster a social climate of respecting teachers and valuing education, enhance their political, social and professional statuses, and make teaching one of the most respected professions in society, so as to support and attract outstanding talents to be dedicated to teaching. Efforts should be made to strengthen professional ethics among teachers, guide them to firm up ideals and convictions, cultivate moral integrity, acquire a broad range of knowledge, and foster the virtue of benevolence, he said. Teachers should be encouraged to commit to the cause of education, dedicate themselves to teaching, and contribute to the country's efforts to build itself into a strong education system, Xi said.

Xi Jinping stressed that building China into a leading country in education is a shared task for the entire Party and society. It is imperative to uphold and strengthen the Party's overall leadership over education and improve the leadership system under which the Party committees take unified leadership, Party and government agencies jointly perform their duties, and departments assume their respective responsibilities. Party committees and governments at all levels should always prioritize the development of education, and intensify efforts in organizational leadership, development planning, resource guarantee, and financial input. Schools, families and society should work closely together and make concerted efforts to actively engage in building China into a leading country in education and jointly promote this cause. The entire Party and people of all ethnic groups across the country should stay confident and work persistently to jointly strive for the goal of building China into a leading country in education at an early date.