Nation builds strength in education

China issued a landmark document in late August signaling its intention to build a high-quality teaching workforce to further support the country's educational advancement.

The guideline on promoting the spirit of educators and strengthening the construction of a high-quality professional teaching force in the new era was issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, China's Cabinet.

Wang Jiayi, vice-minister of education, said the development of teachers in China is crucial as the country goes from being an educational powerhouse to becoming a global leader in education.

There are 18.92 million educators across various levels in China, supporting the largest education system in the world. "A strong nation must have a strong education system, which starts with strong teachers," Wang said.

Over the next three to five years, China aims for significant progress in establishing a professional teaching force, including improvements in teachers' moral standards, professionalism and dedication to education, the guideline said.

By 2035, the spirit of educators will become a conscious pursuit of the teaching community, and the governance system for teachers will be modernized, it added.

Digital tools will play a key role in empowering teacher development, and teaching will become one of the most respected and desirable professions in the country, Wang said.

The policy prioritizes ethical standards and encourages teachers to practice self-discipline, stressing a "zero tolerance" approach to violations of codes of ethics.

Efforts will be made to improve teachers' professional skills, academic capabilities, and overall ability to educate and inspire students. The policy also calls for better management and allocation of teacher resources to support the growth of educational leaders.

Comprehensive measures have been taken to protect teachers' legal rights, improve their working conditions and ensure that they are well rewarded for their contributions to society, Wang said.

Several initiatives are underway to attract top talent into the teaching profession such as tuition-free teacher education, targeted teacher training programs and partnerships with high-level universities.

Since 2007, China has offered free education for students in teacher-training programs at six major universities, including Beijing Normal University and East Normal University in Shanghai. These students are exempt from tuition and accommodation fees and receive living allowances.

In 2018, the initiative transitioned to publicly funded education, reducing the required service period after graduation from 10 years to six years, benefiting 167,000 students, Wang said.

The outstanding teacher training program, launched in 2021, focuses on preparing undergraduate teachers for less-developed areas, including former poverty-stricken counties and border regions. In the past four years, 45,000 students have been enrolled in this program, improving the overall quality of teaching in these regions, he added.

Last year, the national excellence program began to support 30 elite universities, including top institutions such as Peking University, Tsinghua University in Beijing and Fudan University in Shanghai, in training graduate-level teachers for primary and secondary schools.

All of the 1,600 teachers recruited from 6,300 applicants were master's or doctoral graduates, and most of them studied either science, technology, engineering or math subjects.

The program included 13 additional universities this year, including two in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Wang said.

"By continuing to expand these initiatives, China aims to cultivate more outstanding teachers who will contribute to the country's educational goals, fostering a well-rounded teaching force with strong educational backgrounds and deep professional commitment," he added.

Yu Weiyue, director of the ministry's department of teacher education, said strengthening training for teachers in basic education and enhancing their overall teaching abilities are key tasks in building China into a global leader in education.

There are 16.84 million primary and secondary school teachers in China, accounting for 89 percent of the country's total teaching staff.

Recently, the ministry has implemented several measures aimed at improving the professional development of teachers in basic education.

To meet the needs of teachers at different stages of their professional growth, China has established a national training system requiring all primary and secondary school teachers to complete 360 hours of training every five years.

The system is supported by a collaborative network involving universities, municipal and county teacher development institutions, excellent schools and professional training organizations, Yu said.

He added that programs such as the national teacher training plan have created models to guide local innovations in training methods and management.

A special focus in teacher training has been given to subjects such as arts, physical education and mental health education.

"In addition, leading teachers and school principals have been sent to countries such as Singapore and Finland for advanced training," Yu said.

The ministry launched the "teacher development" section of the National Smart Education Platform in 2022 to provide online teacher training. To date, teacher trainings on the platform have been completed 61 million times, and 225 online workshops taught by top teachers and principals have been established, benefiting nearly 100,000 educators.

Pilot projects have also been launched in 103 schools to explore how artificial intelligence and other new technologies can enhance teacher development, he said.

Teacher training efforts have prioritized teachers in underdeveloped regions, including the central and western regions and rural schools, Yu highlighted.

Partnerships between high-level normal (teaching) universities and weaker teacher training institutions in these regions have improved local teacher training quality, he said.

The special post program has helped 22 provinces in the central and western regions recruit 1.15 million teachers for over 30,000 rural schools. A total of 243,000 teachers have been sent to teach in rural and underdeveloped regions under multiple projects.

The government has offered living allowances for rural teachers, benefiting around 1.3 million educators across 22 provinces. The average monthly allowance per teacher is around 400 yuan ($56.3).

Additionally, over 281 billion yuan has been invested in building 637,000 housing units for rural teachers, benefiting over 871,000 individuals.

"This year, we will continue to support young rural teachers by improving their working conditions and increasing the annual subsidy for teachers under the special post program by 3,600 yuan per person," Yu said.

In recent years, teachers have been burdened with noneducational tasks, disrupting their focus on teaching. To address the problem, the ministry launched a special campaign to restrict noneducational activities from entering schools.

Local authorities are encouraged to review and set entry standards to distinguish between school-related activities and those unrelated to education. Activities that disrupt normal teaching, promote negative values, or contain commercial content are strictly prohibited from entering schools.

Each province has published a white list of approved activities, and schools are suggested to integrate these activities with curriculum-related teaching and school culture-building to ensure that such events are of high quality, Yu said.

Zhang Zhiyong, a professor at Beijing Normal University, said building a high-quality teaching workforce requires addressing questions in response to the decline in China's school-age population and the trend of urban population shifts.

"We need to consider questions including how to build a teaching workforce that meets the needs of personalized education, and how to construct a team that supports the comprehensive development of students," Zhang said.

To improve the qualifications of educators, more professional teachers with bachelor's and master's degrees are needed, he added.