Yuchen Yang (Prof) Northeast Normal University, China, Sept 20th, 2010

1. China Higher Education in 2020 ---based on National Mid and Long Term (2010-2020) Educational Reform and Development Plan (MOE, July, 2010) Yuchen Yang (Prof) Northeast Normal University, China, Sept 20th, 2010

2. Contents • Redefining education • Current problems of education in China • General strategies • Strategic goals and Themes • Higher education in China • Reform on college entrance testing system • Expanding international education • Training high quality teachers • Next five-year plan of Northeast Normal University

3. 1. New interpretation of what education means to China • Education is the cornerstone of national prosperity and social development, the route to improve national quality and the expectation for a better life of all families. • Compared with the definition in the Education Law of the People’s Republic of China (1985) Education is the basis of socialist modernization, and the State shall ensure priority to the development of educational undertakings. The whole society should be concerned with and support the development of educational undertakings.

4. 2. Current Problems of Education in China The development of education in China cannot keep up with the social and economic development, neither can it meet the needs of the people, particularly in terms of: • Educational conception is still backward • Teaching contents and methodology need upgrading. • Workload for primary and secondary school pupils is too heavy. • The implementation of quality education is ineffective. • Students have low social adaptability and creative education should be reinforced. • Inter-disciplinary talents are in badly need. • Education mechanism is not well established. • School management needs vitality. • Education structural distribution needs regulation. • The development of education in urban and rural areas is still unbalanced .

5. 3. General strategies To give priority to educational development and to build a strong nation of human resources. Orientations 1) Priority is given to the development of educational undertakings. 2) Students are the center of attention. 3) Innovation is the driving force of educational development. To encourage educational innovation in training models, school running mechanisms, quality evaluation and testing systems for college entrance system. 4) Education equity is the basic educational policy. Equity of access opportunity. The government will be responsible to regulate the educational resources, help the disadvantaged classes and give support to remote areas and minority regions in order to narrow the gap between regional difference as well as urban and rural areas. 5) Quality improvement is the main task of educational reform. Quality education means the all round development and the social adaptability of the students.

6. 4. Strategic goals and Strategic Themes • Goals: • By 2020, education in China will have been generally modernized, and China will become a learning society, and will be one of the strong nations of human resources. • To reach a high level of popularization education, specifically: • Popularization of pre-school education, • Retain and improve the achievement of nine-year compulsory education. • Popularize senior school education with a gross entrance rate of 90%; • Promote mass education with a gross entrance rate into higher education institutions at 40% . • The average schooling of the new labor force will be raised from 12.4 years to 13.5 years. • The Average schooling of major labor force will be raised from 9.5 years to 11.2 years, among whom 20% will have an experience of higher education. • The number of population with higher education will be doubled.

7. 4. Strategic goals and Strategic Themes • Theme • To take students as the center and carry out all round quality education.

8. 5. Higher education in China To raise higher education quality. • By 2020, The structure of China higher education will have been regulated. The levels of teaching, science research and social services will have been greatly improved. And China will hold a batch of internationally well known higher education teaching institutions, with their unique features and high quality, close or equal to the best universities in the world.

9. 5. Higher education in China To raise the quality of training. • Teaching will be regarded as the major component for teacher evaluation. • The government will try to improve teaching infrastructures and facilities, to perfect credit systems, put emphasis on the process of practice and encourage cooperation with enterprises and train high quality creative personnel with strong faith, good morality, sound knowledge, and special skills. To raise the level of science research • We will continue to follow the principle that projects serve the goals of the nation’s development, and individual research interest will still be encouraged. To strengthen the capability to serve the society • We will tray to fasten the process of transforming scientific research into technical product. To prioritize educational structures with particular features • Prioritization includes that of higher education structures, subjects of learning, types of institutions, levels of education, etc.

10. 6. College entrance testing system reform • To promote the reform on entrance testing system • Gradually realize the goal that admission does not solely rely on test results; • Integrated evaluation and multiple ways of admission (results from achievement tests will be taken into consideration ) • Give more freedom to both the university and the students. To promote public and social monitoring.

11. 7. Expanding international education To enlarge international communication and cooperation • To train international talents by helping them establish a world view, know international laws, and be able to take part in international affairs and join international competition, particularly To import excellent educational resources • To set up international exchanges and collaborations with well known colleges, educational and science research institutions, and enterprises. To attract best experts to teach in China, do science research or be engaged in administration. To import excellent teaching materials. To raise the level of cooperation and exchanges • To accept credits and educational experiences, support teacher exchanges, students exchanges, credits and diploma offer collaborations • To encourage graduates to work in Confucian institutions Enlarge the scale of foreign students in China. Increase Chinese government scholarships, focusing on developing nations. • Actively collaborate with the UNESCO and take part in the discussion of global issues and enlarge regional education cooperation.

12. 8. Training high quality teachers To continue to provide government funding to teacher training programs. To encourage graduates to work in remote and rural areas, in order to improve teaching quality. To raise teachers’ social status and raise their salary To provide accommodation and additional benefits to those who work in rural and remote areas. To raise the standard and criterion for teacher selection and provide in-service training for teaching staffs.

13. 9. Northeast Normal’s Twelfth five Year Plan as a response to the National Mid and Long Term Educational Reform and Development Plan • General aims: • To build NENU into an integrative, research-oriented, internationalized university which features for its world class teacher training programs.

14. 9. Northeast Normal’s Twelfth five Year Plan General aims: • Integrative: multiple subjects of learning (both teacher-training and non-teacher training program. Science and arts subjects interrelated, economics and engineering and so on) • Research oriented: Theory building, technology creation and education innovation. • Internationalization: to enlarge the scale of teachers and students exchanges. To change the educational ideology, contents, and methodology. • Teachers university: the basic orientation and development. • The basic task of the university is to serve basic education, to develop and renew teacher education models.

15. 9. Northeast Normal’s Twelfth five Year Plan The strategic focus of the next five years: • To give priority to the development of teacher training programs; • Strong areas as Biology, Chemistry, World history, Education, Language, politics, Chinese literature and culture in NENU will be further strengthened.

16. 9. Northeast Normal’s Twelfth five Year Plan Development tasks • Students enrollment number will remain stable. Currently 21,000 full time students (14,000 undergraduates, 6,000 postgraduates, among which 400 PhDs), Overseas students 1,000, and continued education students 30,000). • Academic programs remains stable: Undergraduate programs: 60. Masters programs: 150, PhD programs: 80. • Full time teachers 1,600, part time 300. The ratio between the teacher and student is 14:1.

17. 9. Northeast Normal’s Twelfth five Year Plan International cooperation • long term foreign experts 35 annually • short term experts 1,000. • 10% undergraduates join exchange programs, 10-15% postgraduates (200-300 people annually) • Young teachers (born after 1963) should have international experiences with at least 6 months. • International academic meetings reach 30 annually • 1,000 overseas students • 6 Confucian schools

18. Summary NENU feels a heavy pressure: more competitive University management: To be strong: science research and high quality teaching To be special: teacher training programs world first class To be open: international exchanges and cooperation

19. Thanks for your attention! • You are welcome to NENU!