China’s Ministry of Education, along with four other departments, recently released a plan to adjust approximately 20 percent of the university majors in the country by 2025. The plan aims to establish majors that focus on new technologies and industries while weeding out majors that are unfit for socioeconomic development.
As part of this plan, there will be an increase in the number of majors in basic disciplines, with a particular emphasis on science and medicine. This is to serve national development, focus on cutting-edge technologies worldwide, and safeguard people’s health.
To achieve these goals, the plan sets out to build around 10,000 national-level majors and 300 bases to train students in basic disciplines. Additionally, several schools will be established that will focus on future technology, modern industry, and high-level public health. These schools will nurture exceptional engineers and help the country maintain its global competitiveness.
The adjustment of university majors is part of China’s larger plan to develop its human resources and stay at the forefront of technological advancement. The country recognizes that it needs to invest in education to remain competitive in the global economy.
In recent years, China has made significant strides in developing its higher education system. It now has some of the best universities in the world, and the number of Chinese students studying abroad has also increased significantly.
By adjusting university majors, China hopes to develop a highly skilled workforce that is capable of meeting the demands of the modern world. The country’s leaders believe that education is the key to achieving economic and technological progress, and they are committed to investing in it for the long term.
In order to ensure that the country’s universities are offering majors that are relevant to regional development and producing high-quality graduates, China’s Ministry of Education has instructed provincial education authorities to evaluate current majors. This evaluation will include an assessment of basic conditions, teacher quality, and student satisfaction rates.
Provincial education authorities will conduct inspections of university majors to identify those that are low quality or have low employment rates. These majors will be asked to halt enrollment. The authorities will also evaluate whether university majors in their jurisdiction match regional development needs and publish lists of majors of high and low priority.
Chinese universities are currently offering degrees in 66,000 majors, according to the Ministry of Education. Since 2012, they have established 17,000 new majors and removed or suspended around 10,000 others. This highlights the need for ongoing evaluation and adjustment of university majors.
The gross enrollment rate of higher education in China reached 59.6 percent in 2022, indicating a need to improve the quality of higher education and make changes to majors. An unnamed official from the Ministry of Education’s department of higher education emphasized the importance of this effort.
By improving the quality of higher education and aligning majors with regional development needs, China hopes to develop a highly skilled workforce that can contribute to the country’s continued economic growth. The evaluation and adjustment of university majors is one aspect of the country’s larger plan to strengthen its human resources and stay competitive in the global economy.
Through ongoing evaluation and adjustment, China aims to ensure that its universities are offering majors that are relevant, high-quality, and in demand by both students and employers.
According to an unnamed official from China’s Ministry of Education, some universities have been too quick to establish new majors without considering their relevance to current socioeconomic development or their potential for producing employable graduates. As a result, there is a need to create an adjustment mechanism and strengthen regulations and evaluations from education authorities.
Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, agrees that some majors are not in line with current socioeconomic development efforts and have low employment rates for graduates. This highlights the need for ongoing evaluation and adjustment of university majors.
To address these issues, the plan focuses on practical skills that are in line with societal demand and multi-disciplinary knowledge. By aligning university majors with current development needs and ensuring that graduates have the skills that employers are looking for, China aims to improve the employability of its graduates and support its ongoing economic growth.
The adjustment of university majors is just one aspect of China’s larger effort to develop its human resources and stay competitive in the global economy. By investing in education and aligning university majors with development needs, the country hopes to develop a highly skilled workforce that is capable of meeting the demands of the modern world.
Chen Zhiwen, editor-in-chief of online education portal EOL, emphasized that the plan aims to leverage the unique characteristics of universities, rather than creating comprehensive universities with many similar majors. By allowing universities to focus on their strengths, the plan seeks to encourage innovation and promote excellence in education.
In addition, the plan calls on universities to make adjustments based on their own conditions and consider how they can contribute to industrial, regional, and national development. This approach emphasizes the importance of regional development needs and encourages universities to align their programs with the needs of the local community and the broader national economy.
By allowing universities to focus on their strengths and encouraging them to align their programs with development needs, the plan aims to create a more responsive and innovative higher education system that can contribute to the country’s ongoing economic growth and development.
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