National
New Vice Ministers for Education appointed
By MoE, 6 Jan 2023
The Chinese State Council has recently announced WANG Jiayi, CHEN Jie and WU Yan as new Vice Ministers of Education. Vice Minister CHEN Jie is replacing TIAN Xuejun to oversee international cooperation and exchanges. CHEN Jie received his BSc., MSc., and Ph.D. degrees in control theory and control engineering from the Beijing Institute of Technology. He was Vice President of Beijing Institute of Technology from April 2014 to July 2018 and President of Tongji University from July 2018.
China issues guideline on advancing vocational education reform
By China Daily, 21 December 2022
On 21 December, the Chinese authority issued a guideline to advance reform and high-quality development of vocational education. It aims to enhance the capacities of vocational schools and increase the quality, adaptability, and appeal of vocational education to train more high-caliber technicians and skilled workers. Priority will be given to vocational education for industries such as information technology, numerically-controlled machine tools and robots, aviation and space equipment manufacturing, and biomedicine. The guideline promised more policy support for vocational education.
State Council appoints, removes officials
By State Council, 30 December 2022
The State Council, China's cabinet, announced the appointment and removal of officials on 29 December. Gao Xiang was appointed president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, replacing Shi Taifeng. Du Jiangfeng was appointed president of Zhejiang University. Zhang Pingwen was appointed president of Wuhan University.
China continues to drop on English proficiency ranking
By China Daily, 6 Jan 2023
According to Swedish company EF Education First, China's ranking in English proficiency continued to decline last year, with the country coming in 62nd among 111 non-English speaking countries and regions, dropping from 49th place last year and 38th in 2020. The report suggests the COVID-19 pandemic could be one of the reasons for the decline in China's ranking in English proficiency.
International Symposium on Industry–School–Academia Partnerships held in Beijing
By MoE, 22 December 2022
The 2022 International Symposium on Industry–School–Academia Partnerships was held in Beijing on December 15. Tian Xuejun, Vice Minister of Education, gave a speech online. The symposium was jointly organized by the municipal governments of Beijing and Tianjin and the provincial governments of Hebei, Shanxi, and Henan. Several foreign guests also gave speeches, including Getachew Engida, former Deputy-Director General of UNESCO, and John E. Hopcroft, Professor at Cornell University and Turing Award winner.
Provincial/SAR
Shenzhen publish draft vocational education regulation for solicitation (CHN)
By 21jingji, 15 Jan 2023
On 12 Jan, The Justice Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality published the "Regulations on Vocational Education for Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (Draft for Public Comments)" (Unofficial translation) to seek comments from the public by 12 Feb. The proposed regulation mentions the possibility of joint operation of domestic and foreign schools, the construction of vocational education parks, and a variety of supporting policies for the municipality to engage in collaboration and exchange with foreign bodies and within the Greater Bay Area.
Shortage warning for primary and secondary school places in 2023 (CHN)
By Sohu, 12 Jan 2023
Some regions in China have lately reported a scarcity of primary and secondary school seats for 2023, as a result of the baby boom that occurred in 2016 and 2017 after China loosened its regulations on having a second child. Some districts in Guangzhou are signaling that if the number of admissions applications exceeds the capacity, students will be required to form a queue based on the date their home was purchased in the district. The number of newborns for 2016 and 2017 were 17.86 million and 17.23 million respectively. However, the number has quickly dropped to 15.23 million in 2018 and 10.62 million in 2021.
Cities from three provinces clear out all off-campus tutoring agencies offering “subject-based” courses (CHN)
By Sohu, 14 Jan 2023
Qinghai Province, Hebei Province, Ningbo, and Wenzhou City from Zhejiang recently declared that, as part of their "Double Reduction Plan," they had basically "swept out" all off-campus tutoring agencies delivering "subject-based" courses at compulsory education level. Some of these organisations shifted to provide alternative types of tutoring, while others ceased operations.
Guangdong to add more than 330,000 public kindergarten places during 14th FYP period (CHN)
By jyb.cn, 1 January 2022
During the 14th Five Year Plan period (2021-2025), the provincial government of Guangdong will boost the public kindergarten quota by more than 330,000 and establish/renovate around 2,500 public kindergartens.
Cross-border students prepare to come back to Hong Kong for in-person classes after 3-year hiatus
By SCMP, 5 January 2023
About 18,000 cross-border students living in mainland China would be allowed to attend in-person classes in Hong Kong after the Lunar New Year holiday, the government announced on 5 January. Thousands of cross-border students have withdrawn from Hong Kong schools over the past three years as COVID-19 travel restrictions, such as quarantine rules, made it impractical to attend classes in person. Those who did not withdraw have had to attend classes purely online. According to official figures, about 18,000 Hong Kong students living on the mainland attended the city’s kindergartens and primary and secondary schools during the 2021-22 academic year, down by more than 30 per cent from 27,000 in 2020-21.
Institutions
Universities publish graduate employment report for 2022 (CHN)
By Sohu, 16 Jan 2023
The Chinese higher education system graduated 10.76 million students in 2022, and several colleges have lately published annual reports on the employment status of graduates. For example, according to Tsinghua University, 8,003 students graduated from the university in 2022, with 28.3% pursuing further study in China, 7.1% pursuing further education abroad, 52.5% entering the workforce, and 10.1% opting for flexible work options.
Eastern Institute of Technology to begin undergraduate admissions in 2025
By Sohu, 14 Jan 2023
Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), a private higher education institute funded by a Chinese entrepreneur began construction on 29 December 2022. The university is located in Ningbo and is expected to open for undergraduate admissions in 2025. The university has reported to have signed employment contracts with 2 academicians and 7 fellows from international academic organisations. Chinese mechanical engineer and physicist CHEN Shiyi has been named as the President of the University. He is currently the President of Southern University of Science and Technology of China and previous Vice-President of Peking University.
Also of interest
Agent survey tracks key factors for study abroad planning in China and South Asia
By ICEF, 12 Jan 2023
The latest cycle (October 2022) of the Navitas agent survey compares major factors in choice of study destination for students in China and South Asia. “Ranking of institution” remains the leading factor in choice of study destination for Chinese students, “cost of study” is second, and the data suggests that cost has grown in importance for Chinese families from earlier surveys. “Safety and security” came third followed by “opportunities for permanent migration”, “Access to Post Study Work Rights” and “Opportunities to work while studying”. “COVID-19 impact” has dropped to 10th influential factor, chosen only by 16% of the respondents.
