National Business Daily:

Since its introduction in July 2021, the "Double Reduction" policy has garnered significant attention. Could you share the progress of its implementation over the past three years and outline the upcoming measures to further strengthen these efforts? Thank you.

Huai Jinpeng:

Thank you. This is a matter of public concern and remains a key focus of the MOE's ongoing work. I would like to invite Mr. Wang to respond to this question.

Wang Jiayi:

Thank you for your interest in the "Double Reduction" policy. This policy is crucial for primary and secondary school students' healthy growth and holistic development. It is a matter of concern for the central government, society at large and the general public. In essence, while the "Double Reduction" policy may seem focused on a specific issue, its impact is broad and significant.

Over the past three years, the education system has earnestly implemented the central government's directives on the "Double Reduction" policy, emphasizing the role of schools as the primary platform for this initiative. The efforts can be summarized as "two reductions and two enhancements." The first "reduction" is the significant decrease in the number of academic tutoring institutions at the compulsory education level, effectively curbing the disorderly expansion of large-scale academic training. The second "reduction" is the decrease in students' homework burden and off-campus tutoring load. The first "enhancement" is that over 200,000 schools nationwide at the compulsory education level have universally implemented after-school services, with the proportion of students voluntarily participating rising from about 50% before "Double Reduction" to over 90% now. The second "enhancement" is the noticeable improvement in teaching quality for students in compulsory education.

Moving forward, we will continue to consolidate these achievements and foster a positive educational environment. Ultimately, our goal is to achieve "Double Enhancement" within schools. We will focus on four key areas:

First, we will expand resources. We aim to stabilize the "basic framework" of primary and secondary school classroom teaching quality. This involves implementing the action plan for enhancing and improving basic education while optimizing the allocation of educational resources across regions. We will also strengthen the development of a high-quality professional teaching workforce and steadfastly advance educational digitalization to effectively expand the coverage of high-quality educational resources.

Second, we will improve quality. We seek to invigorate the "internal motivation" of school education and teaching. By optimizing teaching methods, strengthening teaching management and promoting technology-enabled learning, we aim to comprehensively enhance classroom teaching levels. These efforts will ensure that teachers can teach effectively and students can learn efficiently. We will continue to improve the quality of after-school services, especially in meeting students' diverse learning needs.

Third, we will emphasize practice. We will build a "grand framework" for a comprehensive education system. This involves fully implementing practice-based education requirements and thoroughly executing the science education enhancement plan. We will strengthen disciplinary, interdisciplinary and comprehensive social practice to cultivate students' exploratory and innovative thinking skills.

Fourth, we will strengthen supervision. We aim to create a positive ecosystem for synchronized governance both inside and outside schools. This includes establishing a permanent mechanism for managing off-campus training, strictly controlling academic training, addressing covert and variant forms of academic training and regulating nonacademic training. We will particularly focus on rigorously addressing illegal training activities. Additionally, we will strengthen supervision of prepayments by training institutions to firmly curb excessive charges and profit-driven practices. Thank you.

Huai Jinpeng:

Please allow me to add two points. First, compulsory education is a national responsibility, which is a consensus worldwide, particularly regarding academic tutoring. Second, the purpose of implementing the "Double Reduction" policy is to achieve "Double Enhancement" - improving educational outcomes and the balanced and high-quality development of basic education. Thank you.