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Future Education Spotlights Texts, Teaching, Technology
Educational officials have developed strategies to educate people so they can advance China's economic development.
For one thing, the curricula will be consolidated, said Zhong Binglin, director of the Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education. He spoke at a press conference yesterday in Beijing.
Previously, college and university specialties were excessively subdivided. Journalism programmes, for example, were divided into national and international courses.
Consequently, students' knowledge was often limited for them to cope in today's competitive job market, said Zhong.
Zhong said his ministry also has called on colleges and universities to merge closely related courses, such as insurance and finance.
Another plan: Morality and psychology education will be given equal footing with regular programmes to make students more well-rounded, Zhong added.
Developing distance learning through computer networks is important as well, said ministry official Liu Zhipeng.
More effort will go to establishing satellite transmissions and computerized networks to enhance teaching programmes for re-employment or for farmers. These programmes should reach the smallest and most remote parts of China.
To improve labour skills and provide more higher education opportunities for those who cannot enter regular colleges and universities, the ministry will accelerate the development of vocational and technical schools, said Liu.
Teaching styles are due for change, too. Starting in 1995, the ministry encouraged colleges and universities to improve their teaching efficiency with big changes in teaching styles as well as texts.
Major institutions of higher learning have taken big strides to meet this goal.
At Beijing Normal University, for example, the Resources and Environment Department has opened fieldwork courses to students studying geography, university sources said.
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