CHINA has issued an inter-agency guideline to kickstart an action plan on improving basic education in the new era, said the Ministry of Education (MOE) on Wednesday. The guideline, jointly released by the MOE, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance, aims to increase the fairness and quality of the country’s basic education. The guideline focuses on deepening the supply-side reform of basic education, further expanding quality education resources, and accelerating the construction of a high-caliber basic education system, said MOE official Tian Zuyin. By 2027, a provision and adjustment mechanism for primary, secondary school and kindergarten enrollments will be basically established in alignment with the country’s new urbanization drive and demographic changes in the school-aged population, according to the guideline. The coverage of kindergartens will be further elevated, with the ratio of government-funded kindergartens surpassing 60%. All counties nationwide with a population of more than 200,000 will be equipped with special education schools, and the quality of inclusive education will be substantially raised, according to the guideline. Meanwhile, the MOE and nine other government organs have jointly released an action plan to encourage the reemployment of retired teachers. The move is expected to see the reemployment of about 120,000 retired teachers across the country in three years, the MOE said Wednesday. The plan comes against the backdrop of an upcoming retirement peak among education workers and it aims to provide opportunities for retired teachers to make full use of their experiences and knowledge, said a MOE official in charge of teacher-related affairs. The plan involves the sectors of higher education, vocational education, basic education, lifelong education, and private education. The retired teachers to be reemployed will generally be under 70 years old. The MOE previously launched a project in 2018 that has rehired over 20,000 retired primary and middle school teachers and another project in 2020 to rehire retired college teachers to work at higher education institutions in China’s less-developed areas. (Xinhua) | 