China Reports Major Progress in Quality Education Reform
China’s Ministry of Education has announced significant achievements in quality education reform, with national monitoring data showing that approximately 80% of students meet curriculum standards in core subjects and key health indicators are improving. The announcement came during the National Basic Education Work Conference held in Beijing on July 22, 2026, where officials detailed the results of the 2023-2025 National Compulsory Education Quality Monitoring program.
Scale and Scope of Achievement
According to CCTV News, China has built the world’s largest basic education system, encompassing 430,000 primary and secondary schools and kindergartens, 220 million enrolled students, and 15.77 million full-time teachers. The system now reaches the average level of high-income countries globally, marking a significant milestone in the nation’s educational development.
The monitoring data, conducted by the Ministry of Education’s Education Supervision Bureau, revealed that roughly 55% of students achieve excellent or good levels in mathematics, Chinese, English, and science, placing China among world leaders in educational outcomes. Sina Finance reported that students’ sense of national identity, national security awareness, and identification with traditional Chinese culture continue to improve.
Health and Physical Education Improvements
A key focus of the reform has been student health. The “health first” initiative, which mandates two hours of comprehensive physical activity per day in schools and 15-minute breaks between classes, has shown measurable results. The rising trend in obesity rates and poor eyesight has been “significantly curbed,” according to ministry data. Students’ height, lung capacity, and overall physical fitness indicators are trending upward.
Shi Guifang, Party Secretary of Xiguan Peizheng Primary School in Guangzhou’s Liwan District, told CCTV News that the school achieved a 100% physical fitness pass rate in 2025, with 92.4% of students reaching excellent or good levels. “We placed balls, jump ropes and other sports equipment in corridors and corners — these ‘golden edges and silver corners’ — so children can move anytime,” she said.
Expanding Access and Equity
The conference highlighted major strides in educational equity. The compulsory education consolidation rate has reached 96.1%, while the high school gross enrollment rate stands at 92%. Free preschool education now benefits over 14 million children. All 2,895 county-level administrative units have passed compulsory education balanced inspections, and 100% of primary and secondary schools have internet access, Xinhua News Agency reported from the February 2026 National Basic Education Key Work Deployment Meeting.
The nearby enrollment rate (免试就近入学) exceeds 99.5%, and special education enrollment for school-age children with disabilities has stabilized above 97%. The County High School Revitalization Plan has added 1.49 million new seats.
Future Directions
Zhu Dongbin, Deputy Director of the Basic Education Department at the Ministry of Education, outlined the next phase of reform. “We will comprehensively build a fair and high-quality basic education system,” he said at the conference. “On one hand, we will hold the bottom line of fairness, steadily expand the scope of free preschool education, explore extending the years of compulsory education, and increase the supply of regular high school places.”
Zhu emphasized that the ministry will “implement ‘health first,’ comprehensively strengthen science and technology education, and steadily and prudently promote the application of artificial intelligence, so that students continuously improve their comprehensive abilities through hands-on practice and solving real problems.”
Broader Context
The conference was accompanied by a front-page article in People’s Daily Overseas Edition titled “Cultivating Socialist Builders and Successors with Well-Rounded Moral, Intellectual, Physical, Aesthetic, and Labor Development,” highlighting President Xi Jinping’s guidance on basic education reform. The recently released Education Development “15th Five-Year Plan” marks the first time demographic changes and AI transformation have been treated as two major variables running through the entire plan, signaling a strategic shift in education planning.
What to Watch
As China moves forward with its Education Powerhouse Construction Plan (2024-2035), key areas to monitor include the timeline for extending compulsory education years, the practical implementation of AI integration in classrooms, and how resource allocation adapts to demographic changes. The ministry’s emphasis on balancing technological innovation with foundational skills development will likely shape China’s education landscape for years to come.