Ministry unveils steps to make China an educational powerhouse

China will strengthen its teaching workforce by cultivating more high-quality professionals, especially in rural and less developed areas, in its pursuit of becoming an educational powerhouse, officials from the Ministry of Education said on Thursday.

Wang Jiayi, vice-minister of education, said the new guidelines published on Monday on advocating the spirit of educators and strengthening the building of high-quality professional teaching workforce for the new era have outlined specific measures, including strengthening professional integrity, conduct and skills of teachers, optimizing education resource allocation, and protecting teachers' rights and interests.

The guidelines will ensure about 18.92 million teachers at all levels in the country become competent educators to further support the largest educational system in the world, Wang said at a news conference held to introduce the guidelines issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council.

The guidelines also call for lifting teachers' social status, fostering public respect for educators, and encouraging public support for education.

"We hope that by 2035, teaching will become one of the most respectable and admirable occupations in China," Wang said at the news conference held by the State Council Information Office.

Yu Weiyue, director of the Ministry's department of teachers' affairs, said at the news conference that more training and support will be provided to teachers in rural areas and less developed regions.

"We will further boost the teaching force in those areas by recruiting more teachers and providing better training to teachers, especially those who teach subjects that are in short of teachers," Yu said.

Yu added that training for primary and high school teachers will also be enhanced as they count for 89 percent of China's teaching workforce. And their professional integrity and skills is key in lifting the country's standards in education.

"We will particularly provide training to primary and high school teachers who teach arts, music, science and mental health as well as soccer," Yu said.

The guidelines also advocate zero tolerance for malpractice and violations of regulations concerning teachers, calling for strict enforcement of discipline and legal consequences for offenders.

The building of normal schools will be further supported. Also, stronger efforts are called for to ensure timely salary payments for teachers, alleviate unnecessary workloads, and protect them from misconduct such as humiliation, defamation and rumors, according to the guidelines.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the introduction of the Teachers' Day, which falls on Sept 10. And the teaching workforce has become much stronger since then. The number of teachers has increased to about 18.92 million in 2023 from about 9.32 million in 1985, Li Yongzhi, president of the China Academy of Educational Science, said at the news conference.