Episode Details

The concept that education determines the future of a nation is a widely acknowledged consensus globally.

That could be the reason education was at the forefront of the discussion on Thursday when President Xi Jinping joined the group meeting in Beijing of the country's national political advisers from the China Democratic League, the China Association for Promoting Democracy and the education sector.

"In every household, education is now a focal point of attention, with numerous hot topics in this field," Xi told the political advisers, who were attending the third session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. "This not only indicates a strong educational atmosphere, but also reflects a certain gap between our education system and the expectations of the people."

Cai Guangjie, deputy director of the Education Department of Sichuan province, presented her research findings to Xi, revealing a significant demographic shift in the country — the decrease in the school-age population.

To address these emerging challenges, Cai gave her advice on optimizing resource allocation, including controlling the construction of new schools and facilitating the transfer of students from under-resourced rural schools to better-equipped schools in towns.

Cai's remarks evoked Xi's memories of the early days of China's reform and opening-up. At the time, the country provided many children with the opportunity to receive education through initiatives such as raising funds from various sources to establish and operate schools, and through Project Hope, which was launched in 1989 with the goal of ensuring that students in impoverished areas were given greater access to education.

"Back then, I was quite happy to have raised funds to build a primary school in Liangjiahe village. But the school was later closed," Xi recalled. Liangjiahe was an impoverished village in northwestern China's Shaanxi province.

However, the school's closure was actually a positive development, Xi said, because students were relocated to a school in the township area to receive a higher-quality education.

Xi also said that new issues have been brought about "by changes occurring amid progress. The process of solving these problems is also a process of development and advancement".