Vice Premier Urges Improvement of EducationXinhua News Agency on April 6 released the full text of Vice Premier Li Lanqing's speech on March 2 which called for the improvement of education in an effort to let Chinese youngsters grow up in a healthy way.In the speech, Li urged the nation to study President Jiang Zemin's important speech made early this year on the improvement of educational work, saying that the people should have more awareness and make their minds work as one. Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, noted that teaching in schools must be enhanced. He said that the fundamental task of China's education is to improve the nation's overall capability rather than attain a high university enrollment rate. He suggested that there should be a reform of textbooks which are already out-dated and not conductive to cultivating students' various abilities, such as creativity and imagination. Moreover, more attention should be paid to students' morale and practical abilities, according to Li, who added that schools should not only work as knowledge instillers; they must also help the students create a correct value system. Students should be trained to be qualified people who abide by the law, and have a good professional attitude and team spirit, according to Li. He asked the whole of society to pay attention to the cultivation of youngsters, especially at this time, when violent and pornographic materials often appear on TV programs and in popular books. He suggested that there should be a publicity campaign to spread knowledge of patriotism, collectivism and socialism among the young people, and that artists should produce more films and TV programs that will let youngsters grow up in a healthy way. In addition, there must be more interesting after-school activities for children, and children's palaces, museums, art galleries and gymnasia can provide more help in this regard. He added that education is a great project, and that Party committees and governments at all levels should play key roles in improving it. The policy of rejuvenating China through science and education must be promoted, thus leading to a great revival of the Chinese nation, he concluded. |
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