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Notice of the Office of the Ministry of Education on Strengthening Artificial Intelligence Education in Primary and Secondary Schools To Education Departments (or Education Commissions) of Provinces, Autonomous Regions, and Municipalities directly under the Central Government, the Education
Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; all higher education institutions directly under the Ministry of Education, and all higher education institutions established jointly by the Ministry of Education and the Provinces:
In order to thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th Party Congress and the Second and Third Plenums of the 20th CCP Central Committee, earnestly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech at the Nationwide Education Conference, build a talent reserve to promote the development of new quality productive forces (新质生产力), explore pathways for implementing artificial intelligence (AI) education in primary and secondary schools, and cultivate a cohort of
young people with innovative potential, and in light of current realities, notification is
hereby given regarding the following matters.
I. Overall Requirements
(1) Persist in cultivating moral people (立德树人) and maintaining the correct direction. We must fully implement the Party’s directives on education, carry out the fundamental task of cultivating moral people, closely align with the educational mission in the new era and on the new journey, meet the requirement to cultivate innovative talent oriented toward the future, and ensure that we pass the torch of advancing the Party's cause and building China into a socialist modernized world power to the next generation.
(2) Persist in taking a people-centered approach and promoting all-round development. We must follow the laws governing education and talent development, use AI to lead the building of a people-centered innovative education ecosystem, serve the goal of promoting students’ all-round development, guide students in properly handling the relationship of human beings with technology and society, promote the development of thinking, cultivate an innovative spirit, and improve the ability to solve practical problems.
(3) Persist in stimulating interest and encouraging exploration. We must stimulate students’ enthusiasm for learning AI technologies, guide students to broadly participate in exploratory practice, emphasize the integration of study and application, cultivate students’ interest in science and scientific spirit, enhance digital literacy and digital skills, and foster a cohort of young people with potential for AI innovation.
(4) Persist in doing overall planning and advancing steadily. Taking into account the actual conditions of education and teaching in primary and secondary schools nationwide and the current state of AI development, we must strengthen top-level design and interdepartmental coordination; do overall planning for the efforts of universities, teaching and research institutions, high-tech enterprises, and primary and secondary schools; do overall planning for the integrated development of AI education across primary schools, secondary schools, and universities; do overall planning for all aspects including curricula, teaching materials, equipment, instruction, and evaluation; advance actively and prudently; encourage qualified localities and schools to take the lead in piloting initiatives; increase support for educationally underdeveloped regions; and, by 2030, basically universalize AI education in primary and secondary schools.
II. Main Tasks and Measures
(1) Build a systematic curriculum framework. We must study and formulate guidelines and popular readers for general AI education in primary and secondary schools; further refine AI education requirements within courses such as information technology, science, comprehensive practical activities (综合实践活动), and labor education with a consideration of the characteristics of academic disciplines and students’ developmental stages; implement teaching models such as interdisciplinary learning, holistic instruction, and practice of particular disciplines; and encourage the inclusion of AI education in local curricula and curricula tailored to the characteristics of individual schools (校本课程). In the lower grades of primary school, the focus should be on perceiving and experiencing AI technologies; in the upper grades of primary school and at the junior high school level, the focus should be on understanding and applying AI technologies; and at the senior high school level, the focus should be on project-based creation and cutting-edge applications. We must emphasize ethics in the application of AI education and guide primary and secondary school students to use various AI tools in a scientific and appropriate manner, especially generative AI tools. We must encourage localities and schools to incorporate AI education into after-school service programs and research-based study activities; promote industry-academia-research institute-user (产学研用) integration; and, in collaboration with AI enterprises, universities, research institutions, and industry associations, develop a number of AI education courses and examples of teaching to provide support for instruction.
(2) Implement normalized teaching and evaluation. When implementing AI education, primary and secondary schools must do overall planning for courses such as information technology, science, comprehensive practical activities, and labor education, as well as after-school services, and implement them in an integrated manner to prevent duplication and overlap; they must, in consideration of the characteristics of AI technologies, focus on cultivating the ability to solve practical problems and vigorously promote task-based, project-based, and problem-based learning. Local teaching and research departments must rely on information technology courses, fully consider the connection and integration of relevant disciplines, strengthen teaching and research on AI education, and actively organize AI-related teaching and research activities. In the selection of teaching achievement awards at all levels of basic education, a separate category for AI education shall be established. We must explore incorporating AI literacy into the comprehensive student quality evaluation system and into the National Compulsory Education Quality Monitoring [platform].
(3) Develop universally accessible teaching resources. We must establish a dedicated AI education section for primary and secondary schools on the Smart Primary and Secondary Education of China platform (国家中小学智慧教育平台), aggregate high-quality educational resources from a wide range of sources, encourage localities and schools to develop AI education teaching resources, and realize the joint development and sharing of high-quality resources. We must establish AI education bases for primary and secondary schools in batches. In the process of carrying out AI education and teaching, we must continuously enrich and improve teaching resources and regularly provide them to the Smart Primary and Secondary Education of China platform. Entities that compile and publish information technology textbooks must simultaneously develop supporting digital teaching resources. We must promote the opening of AI laboratories, exhibition halls, and other venues in universities, scientific research institutes, and high-tech enterprises to primary and secondary schools and develop AI education resources suitable for primary and secondary school students.
(4) Build ubiquitous teaching (泛在化教学) environments. Local governments must regard the development of diversified and high-level AI education laboratories in primary and secondary schools as an important direction in digital campus development and ensure overall planning and balanced allocation; they must rely on existing digital teaching environments and facilities in schools and upgrade and optimize them in accordance with AI teaching requirements, so as to provide space for students to experience, learn about, explore, and practice AI. Universities, scientific research institutes, and high-tech enterprises are encouraged to participate in the construction of AI laboratories in primary and secondary schools, as well as in the construction of regional AI experience centers and practical training bases. Primary and secondary schools must strengthen the sharing of teaching venues and teaching resources among schools and actively rely on off-campus AI experience centers and laboratories to conduct on-site teaching.
(5) Promote the scaling-up of teacher supply. We must strengthen the creation of the cadre of teachers qualified to teach AI education in primary and secondary schools. Localities and schools with the necessary conditions are encouraged to enrich the cadre of AI education instructors through open recruitment, talent recruitment, and career-transition training, and to actively recruit qualified professionals from universities, scientific research institutes, and high-tech enterprises to serve as part-time AI teachers. Universities are encouraged to establish AI education-related majors with a view to cultivating a cadre of AI education teachers for the future. Local governments must incorporate AI education teacher training into their plans, carry out tiered and categorized training, and improve teachers’ levels of professionalization.
(6) Organize diversified exchange activities. We must encourage schools to organize activities in various forms such as establishing AI S&T festivals, holding campus AI creation exhibitions, and conducting AI debates; organically integrate AI into students’ personal lives, campus lives, and social lives; enrich AI-related experiences and practice; enhance students’ application and innovation abilities; and foster a strong AI education environment. We must organize diverse curriculum extension and exchange activities to provide students with platforms to show their achievements, discover outstanding AI talent, and cultivate such talent. We must strengthen the cultivation of youth talent in AI-related fields under the “Secondary School Student Talent Program” (“中学生英才计划”).
III. Assurance Measures
(1) Strengthen organizational leadership. The Ministry of Education will establish an Expert Committee on AI Education in Primary and Secondary Schools. Local administrative departments for education must attach great importance to AI education in primary and secondary schools, place AI education in a more prominent position, effectively strengthen guidance, and establish AI education leading groups led by administrative departments for education and involving schools, scientific research institutions, enterprises, and other stakeholders that are responsible for planning, coordinating, advancing, and evaluating AI education work. Schools must regard strengthening AI education as an important pathway and effective lever for deepening education and teaching reform and improving the quality of talent cultivation. Establish interdisciplinary teacher collaboration mechanisms; promote cooperation among teachers in scientific fields including information technology, mathematics, science, and comprehensive practical activities; and improve the level of AI education.
(2) Strengthen funding guarantees. Local governments must increase investment in AI education, support the development of curriculum resources, teacher training, and hardware infrastructure construction, encourage and channel support from social forces (社会力量), and form diversified fundraising mechanisms. Schools must reasonably arrange budgets to ensure the basic funds required for AI education.
(3) Strengthen overall planning for both urban and rural areas. Local administrative departments for education must increase support for schools in rural and remote areas; promote the mobility of AI teachers through preferential policies and funding support; use online platforms to realize the interconnection of AI-related courses between urban and rural schools; promote the joint development and sharing of high-quality educational resources; and narrow the urban–rural gap in AI education. Teaching and research departments and educational technology (电教) departments at all levels must work in coordination to guide rural schools in making full use of existing resources, create the conditions to offer AI-related interdisciplinary thematic learning courses, or provide access to high-quality teaching resources through online education and other means. Urban and rural schools must carry out paired assistance (结对帮扶) activities, share teaching experience, and jointly improve the quality of AI education.
(4) Strengthen evaluation guidance. Local administrative departments for education must incorporate the implementation of AI education in primary and secondary schools into the education quality assessment system and regularly assess and evaluate schools’ AI education work. Schools must pay attention to improving students’ AI literacy and emphasize the evaluation of innovative thinking, practical abilities, and related competencies. We must regularly organize nationwide exhibitions and exchange activities on AI literacy and educational achievements for primary and secondary school students, summarize advanced and exemplary experiences that are replicable and readily implemented, and promote their broader application.
Office of the Ministry of Education
November 18, 2024