Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan said that continuing efforts should be made to improve the quality and management of higher education, at a meeting on the work of universities directly under the administration of the Ministry of Education on Jan 17.

Sun said that though progress has been made in higher education reforms, there still exist some problems due to a lack of scientific management.

To enhance students’ initiatives in their studies, strict disciplines should be built by improving teaching management and strengthening the assessment of students’ behaviors and learning process.

The training of teaching staff should also be intensified. Ethics and working styles should be regarded as the first criteria in assessing teachers. They are encouraged to introduce innovative teaching methods to yield better results.

Setting disciplines and majors should also be optimized, Sun said. Universities should set disciplines based on their advantages and characteristics. Disciplines with low demand in the job market and inferior teaching quality should be removed.

Sun stressed that basic science research should be supported strongly. The latest research should be introduced to classes to pique students’ interests.