NEWS//China’s labor education strategy

Cultivating a highly-skilled domestic labor force is crucial as China endeavors to transition to an innovation-based economy.

A decade ago, China's central government launched a 10-year plan to improve coordination between the outcomes its educational system provides and the demands in the labor market. In that decade, China has sought to position itself to move from a manufacturing power to a global innovator.

Zheng Fuzhi, vice minister of education, told a press conference that the education system works to foster citizens with an all-round moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic grounding, in addition to a hard-working spirit. Zheng said education through labor must be strengthened with the aim to "cultivate a right view of the world, life and values and develop an interest in doing labor."

Public education emphasizes the value of labor and incorporates work activities into each school day. Under a recent proposal, children in the first and second grades will be required to spend at least two hours per week doing work like cleaning classrooms and doing housework. Third-graders and older students are required to work for three hours a week. 

Guidelines from the Central Committee of the Education Department has detailed a strategy to improve China’s “labor education.” The measures look to reverse declining physical activity among Chinese youth while instilling “the Marxist view of labor.” The guidelines say, “Over the years, some youth have become less appreciative, less willing, and less able to perform manual labor.”

Sources: China Power, China.org, Inkstone News, Foreign Policy