Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan pressed for further efforts to step up education reform while on an inspection at the Ministry of Education on March 29.

Sun fully affirmed the improvements attained in educational undertakings, highlighting the overall state of development and substantial progress in educational equality.

Cultivating students in intelligence and moral doctrines is the very backbone of education, accompanied by the infiltration of “core socialist values” along the way, said Sun.

Thorny problems in education, Sun added, should be effectively addressed, such as increasing preschool educational resources, reducing the number of dropouts in rural areas, and mitigating the K-12 workload.

Meanwhile, teaching staff should be prioritized as the primary educational resource to underpin the development of vocational education, higher education, and other sections. That calls for optimization of educational funding structure, improvements in the systematic management of private education providers, and all-around implementation of Internet Plus education, said Sun.

Additionally, Sun stressed the significance of upholding the guidance of the Communist Party of China in promoting education, which includes optimizing the allocation of functions and responsibilities and improving the educational system.