Action plan for educational revitalization to face the 21st century

Ministry of Education, 1998.12.24

This document is a plan for the implementation of strategies for educational development in the first decade of the 21st century. The writers of the document call it a blueprint for the implementaiton of education reform and development at the turn of the century that is based upon the foundation laid by the “PRC Education Law”, and “A framework for China’s Educational Reform and Development.” The mention of these two documents has led me to decide that I should include them in my analysis too. (Perhaps I could think of my selection of documents as a kind of modified snowball approach with each document selected recommending further documents for study.)

The introductory paragraphs are seminal in light of one of the theme: “education for economic development.” I present an initial rough translation here.


[start of translated excerpt]

“The fifteenth National People's Congress (NPC) of the Chinese Communist Party proposed macro goals and tasks for the socialist construction at the turn of the century, and prepared for implementation of the strategy for the "Rejuvenating the nation through Science and Education" campaign. This action plan was especially formulated to realize the goals determined by the Party's fifteenth NPC and implement "Rejuvenating the nation through Science and Education;" comprehensively advance education reform and development; and raise the quality (suzhi) and creativity of the entire population. In this new age of opening and reform and modernizing construction, Comrade Deng Xiaoping repeatedly emphasized that, in order to realize the goals of socialist modernization, science and technology are key and education is fundamental. At this crucial moment at the turn of the century, Comrade Jiang Zemin has also profoundly pointed out that "In today's world, information technology is a potent symbol of the daily changes in all technology. The fruits of advanced technology are transforming real productive power with increasing rapidity. This initial inkling of the knowledge economy presages the dramatic change that is about to emerge in humanity’s economic and social life. In the approaching 21st century, new advanced technologies at the core of the knowledge economy will occupy the most important position, national GDP and international competitiveness will increasingly depend on educational development, scientific technology and the level of knowledge creation. In future, education will be placed as a priority in development strategy; modern information technology will enjoy widespread use in education and will be the cause of far-reaching changes in the education system. Lifelong learning will become one of the requirements of educational development and social advancement. Currently, many national governments have taken the revitalization of education as a fundamental goal of national policy. These actions presage the fact that education will experience a deep change and we need to make the earliest possible preparations in order to welcome the new challenges. Since the eleventh CCP plenary sessions, China has made remarkable progress in educational development. Nine year compulsory education has been popularized, and much advancement has been made in the work of eliminating illiteracy among young adults. Vocational education and adult education have also seen rapid development; higher education has been steadily expanding; the reforms of the education system and teaching methods have been gradually deepening; school conditions and quality have been enhanced; an initial framework for a system of educational law is taking shape. All of these achievements have laid the foundation for the revitalization of education in the 21st century. However, the level of educational development in our country is still low: the educational system, the educational concepts and methods; and the methods of cultivating talent still cannot meet the needs of modernizing construction. Currently, and in the near future, the lack of creative talent capable of international leadership has already become the greatest restriction in our nation’s creative ability and competitiveness. Therefore, in accordance with current requirements, the revitalization of our nation’s education is an objective need for the realization of the goals of socialist modernization and the great renaissance of the Chinese nation. We must raise up high the great flag of Deng Xiaoping theory, and follow his directive: “education must face modernization, face the world, face the future.” We must seize the opportunities, deepen the reforms, vigorously forge ahead, and push Chinese education, filled with vitality and vigor, into the 21st century. “Towards a plan for the "revitalize education" movement of the 21st century” proposes a working blueprint for education reform and development in China at the turn of the century and takes as its foundation the implementation of China’s Education Law and “The Framework for the Reform and Development of Education in China.”

[end of translated excerpt]

After the introduction which lays down new (?) macro guiding principles for the reforms the document outlines fifty lines of action. Of these fifty:

7 are general (including lines of action that aim to address the following issues: nine year compulsory ed, curriculum reform and evaluation, moral ed, physical education and arts education, kindergarten, special ed, minorities, language)

10 are regarding teacher training in general

23 are regarding higher education (teacher training, curriculum, moral ed, etc.)

3 about adult ed, technical ed, vocational ed [secondary and tertiary]

3 about stimulating “social forces” to contribute to the work of educational development.

4 regarding educational finance reform.

The overwhelming emphasis on higher education in this important document is interesting and a very worthy topic of study in and of itself. Here it is especially salient that there is a tension in tertiary institutions between the need to stimulate creativity and initiative while at the same time retaining a measure of “thought control” in order to ensure that the newly cultivated talent are patriotic and willing to devote their talents to the service of the nation.


Section one contains general lines of action regarding the plan.

“I. Implement “Straddling the centuries suzhi jiaoyu project”, raise the nation’s suzhi
1. The most important goals to be achieved in the education work by the year 2000 are to popularize nine year compulsory education (NYCE), and eliminate illiteracy among young adults. These are the so-called “two basics” and they are already at the stage of consolidation. The achievement of these two goals must be ensured across the nation. The focus of the work of NYCE is the central and western regions and this is also where the greatest difficulties are faced. In the tenth five year plan the implementation of the “National Compulsory Education in Poor Areas Project” is continuing and the focus is on the mountainous areas, the pastoral areas and the border regions. We must further strengthen the work of the monitoring of education, the strengthening and improvement of the monitoring system, in order to ensure the smooth implementation of the “two basics” and suzhi jiaoyu.

This next paragraph is the beginnings of a call for curriculum reform and reform in teaching methodologies.

2. The “Straddling the centuries suzhi jiaoyu project” promotes suzhi jiaoyu in order to foster the all-round development and creative ability of the nation. In order to reform the curriculum system and the system of evaluation, an initial curriculum framework and set of curriculum standards will be developed by the year 2000. Educational content and teaching methods must be reformed, and a new evaluation system must be put in place; teacher training must be developed, and curriculum experimentation must be activated. Through a process of about ten years of experimentation we should strive to advance a 21st century national basic education teaching materials system

3. We must strengthen and improve the moral education work of the schools. Continue to strengthen patriotism, collectivism, education for socialist ideals, education for the respect of rules and obedience to laws and for public morality, education for psychological health and moral integrity.

4. Sports and arts education are important components of suzhi jiaoyu. The sports education and arts education work must be strengthened. Students must be enabled to have a strong physique. Arts education does not only cultivate students’ noble mindedness, it can also stimulate students’ interest in learning and advance the development of the intellect, and cultivate students’ creativity. By 2001, through the promulgation of “The proper arrangement of the work of school arts education,” the deepening of education reform and the supplying of teaching supplies, the initial steps towards streamlining the connections between universities, middle schools and elementary schools, the development of a more scientifically suitable sports and arts education system, should be achieved. We must ensure that the number and quality of sports and arts teachers is adequate, and raise the quality of education.

5. In order to implement suzhi jiaoyu we must begin from kindergarten. We need to use scientific methods to awaken and develop the children’s intellectual abilities, cultivate the children’s healthy constitution, the development of good habits and a lively, open and bright disposition as well as the desire for knowledge.
We must also pay attention to special education, strive to offer opportunities to the large numbers of disabled children, and cultivate within them a spirit of independence and self sufficiency and the ability to survive and develop.

6. We must continue to expand the number of schools in the inland regions that are cultivating minority students, advance the common all-round development of all ethnic groups. At the basic education stage, we must continue the setting up of minority classes and schools in inland regions and border areas and expand these activities as necessary. Universities in inland regions must do more work to cultivate excellent specialists and talented people. They must strengthen the work of bilingual education and the training of teachers in minority areas.

7. We must establish and perfect the regulations and system for the work of language and writing and comprehensively advance the work of language and writing in the schools. Schools at every level and especially at the primary and secondary levels, and normal schools must continue to include the speaking of standard putonghua, the writing of standard characters, and the raising of language and written abilities as important content of suzhi jiaoyu. We must strengthen the macrolevel management of information handling of Chinese language and writing and minority languages and writing systems, and work hard to develop the consciousness of the importance of standardizing the language and writing of all the society according to the law. By the year 2010 the use of characters should be standardized across the nation, in order to enable our country's language and writing to be better adapted to the needs of the construction of the socialist economy, politics and culture.”

Section 2: Implement "Crossing the century gardener project"-- vigorously raise the quality of the teaching force

8. raising the suzhi of the teaching force [including principals] includes moral education, computer education, higher ed institutions are called to be involved in both the preservice adn inservice training of teachers.

9. the raising up of 100 000 backbone teachers for special training, including 10,000 of which will be trained directly at teh national level. the backbone teachers will be trained in order to be responsible for the training of teachers in their own schools [and surrounding schools?]
10. greater efficiency in personnel management
...etc.

I may take up detailed listing of the contents of this document later.

There are a total of 50 plus 6 introductory paragraphs in this document.

Regarding the coding of the paragraphs in this document according to the three categories of: economic development, sociopolitical control, and social justice i have the following statistics:

econ development, 48
sociopolitical control, 11
social justice, 18

Examples of paragraphs that were coded according to each of these categories are as follows:

Economic Development

this document is specifically a plan for revitalizing the nation which seems to contain a fundamental economic connotation. the national people's congress established the campaign "rejuvenate the nation through science and education"--the emphasis on science education is carried over from Deng Xiaoping's emphasis on science for effective modernization and this call for science is heightened in the face of teh "global knowledge economy" and the proliferation of new information technologies.

in the introductory paragraphs there is reference to international competition, the need to reform education in order to meet the needs of modernizing construction.

"Currently, and in the near future, the lack of creative talent capable of international leadership has already become the greatest restriction in our nation’s creative ability and competitiveness.Therefore, in accordance with current requirements, the revitalization of our nation’s education is an objective need for the realization of the goals of socialist modernization and the great renaissance of the Chinese nation. "

Almost half of the document is specific to higher education and the sections on higher education focus to a large extent on scientific development, research and so on. these emphases are closely linked to the vision of a booming Chinese economy supported by technological innovation.

the raising up of human capital is to be further accelerated through various applications of icts to distance education.

again the point that education must be made relevant to the needs of the labor market and to production--especially in the case of higher ed, voc ed, and adult ed.

paragraph 42: "implement the "revitalize the nation through science and technology line of action" we must change the idea that education is a type of consumption investment, and instead consider educational development to be basic infrastructure/facilities, make investment in education to be a fundamental investment and do everythign possible to raise investment in education.

Sociopolitical control

paragraph 3:
"We must strengthen and improve the moral education work of the schools. Continue to strengthen patriotism, collectivism, education for socialist ideals, education for the respect of rules and obedience to laws and for public morality, education for psychological health and moral integrity."
Goals for special provisions for minority students can be thought of in terms of economic development in backward areas, sociopolitical control of these areas and also in terms of equitable access to education and the opportunities that it offers.

emphasis on standard putonghua and standard character training. "By the year 2010 the use of characters should be standardized across the nation, in order to enable our country's language and writing to be better adapted to the needs of the construction of the socialist economy, politics and culture.”

At the end of the document the last five paragraphs are about strengthening "thought work" especially in higher education:

Jiang zemin is quoted as saying "learning scientific culture must be united with the strengthening of cultivated thought, learning book knowledge must be united with social action, the realization of an individual's value should be united with service to the nation's people"

the need to strengthen moral education is emphasized, and marxist theory. "univresity students shoudl be armed with deng xiao ping's theory.

Social justice

this comes in the form of concentrating effort on consolidating the achievements in the universalization of compulsory education with special focus on supporting development in mountainous areas, the pastoral areas and the border regions.

there is this aspect of all round development: music, arts, sports, healthy psychological development which i am not sure where to put. does it belong in social justice as a concern for children's welfare and healthy development?

concern for the disabled.
special provisions for minority students.

distance learning is also a means for achieving social justice goals including providing access to information and resources for teachers in rural schools in remote areas.