China pledges vigorous efforts for high-quality development of education

BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- China is committed to ensuring high-quality development throughout various stages and the entire process of education during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), a senior official with the Ministry of Education (MOE) said Wednesday.

Robust efforts will be made to ensure equal access to basic public education, said Song Demin, vice minister of education, noting that the right to education of those living in difficulties will be safeguarded.

Other items on the agenda include advancing industry-education integration in vocational education, making higher education accessible to more people and providing more resources for life-long learning, Song told a press conference.

The vice minister also vowed to narrow urban-rural and regional gaps in education as China pushes for rural vitalization and regional integrated development.

China aims to increase the average years of schooling for the working-age population, or those aged 16 to 59, to 11.3 years by 2025 from the 2020 level of 10.8 years, said Liu Changya, an official with the MOE. "It is of great significance to building China into a modernized country and a powerful nation in terms of education."

To meet the target, China will continue to increase people's educational attainment, improve education in rural areas, boost vocational education and create an enabling environment for lifelong learning, Liu added.