Building a Strong Education System Centered on the Fundamental Task of Fostering Virtue and Nurturing Talent

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has issued a series of important discourses on education, systematically elucidating the scientific connotation and basic pathways of building a strong education system, profoundly expounding the major relationships that must be properly handled in this endeavor, and uniformly deploying the strategic tasks and major measures for comprehensively advancing the construction of a strong education system. These discourses hold extremely important guiding significance for running an education that satisfies the people on the new journey of the New Era, fully implementing the Party’s educational policy, cultivating socialist builders and successors who are well-developed morally, intellectually, physically, aesthetically, and labor-wise, and providing strong support for comprehensively advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

党的十八大以来，习近平总书记围绕教育问题发表了一系列重要论述，系统阐释了教育强国的科学内涵和基本路径，深刻阐述了教育强国建设要正确处理好的重大关系，并统一部署了全面推进教育强国建设的战略任务和重大举措。这些论述对于新时代新征程办好人民满意的教育，全面贯彻党的教育方针，培养德智体美劳全面发展的社会主义建设者和接班人，为全面推进中华民族伟大复兴提供有力支撑，具有十分重要的指导意义。

Strengthen the Party’s overall leadership over educational work. Strengthening the Party’s overall leadership over educational work is the fundamental guarantee for running education well. Whether the Party’s organizational system within the education sector is sound directly affects whether the Party’s leadership can be effectively realized in the education system. Therefore, Party building work in schools must never engage in empty formalities, put up a facade, or do superficial work; it must give full play to the role of grassroots Party organizations, making them the most intimate and reliable organizational support for teachers and students.

加强党对教育工作的全面领导。加强党对教育工作的全面领导，是办好教育的根本保证。教育系统党的组织体系健不健全直接关系到党的领导在教育系统能不能有效实现。因此，学校的党建工作绝不能玩虚功、搞花架子、做表面文章，必须发挥基层党组织的作用，让其成为师生最贴心、最依赖的组织依靠。

Strengthening Party leadership is the fundamental guarantee for doing ideological and political work well, and the guiding position of Marxism must always be upheld. Ideological and political work is not only reflected in the classroom; it should run through the entire process of school education and management. From both historical and practical perspectives, in any country or any society, the basic pathway for maintaining political rule and sustaining social stability is invariably through education. Cultivating socialist builders and successors is the fundamental task of our education, which requires that the students we cultivate possess a Chinese heart, Chinese sentiments, and Chinese character. Hostile forces that妄想 to Westernize and divide China have long existed, and the key group they meticulously target is young people. Therefore, the struggle for young people is long-term and severe; we must not lose it, and we cannot afford to lose it.

加强党的领导是做好思想政治工作的根本保证，一定要始终坚持马克思主义的指导地位。思想政治工作并不只体现在课堂上，而应该贯穿学校教育管理的全过程。从历史和现实的角度看，任何国家、任何社会，维护政治统治、维系社会稳定的基本途径无一不是通过教育。培养社会主义建设者和接班人是我们教育的根本任务，这就需要我们培养出来的学生有中国心、中国情、中国味。妄想对我国实施西化、分化的敌对势力长期存在，而他们处心积虑针对的重点群体就是青少年，因此，争夺青少年的斗争是长期的、严峻的，我们绝不能输，也输不起。

Specifically, this means strengthening Party leadership and Party building work in schools at all levels and of all types, upholding and improving the principal responsibility system under the leadership of the Party committee in higher education institutions, thoroughly implementing the principal responsibility system under the leadership of the Party organization in primary and secondary schools, continuously strengthening Party building in privately-run schools and Sino-foreign cooperative education, giving full play to the combat fortress role of grassroots Party organizations, and implementing Party leadership throughout the entire process of school governance, teaching, and educating people.

具体来说，就是要加强各级各类学校党的领导和党的建设工作，坚持和完善高校党委领导下的校长负责制，深入落实中小学校党组织领导的校长负责制，不断加强民办学校、中外合作办学党的建设，充分发挥基层党组织战斗堡垒作用，把党的领导落实到办学治校、教书育人全过程。

In this process, firmly grasping the Party’s leadership over ideological work in schools is very important. The student group has a high degree of active thinking, where various ideological viewpoints converge and various values collide. While upholding an attitude of respecting differences and tolerating diversity, it is also necessary to enhance political acuity and discernment. For the mixed and confused ideological viewpoints that may spread among the student body, they must be filtered and purified, not accepted wholesale. Especially regarding various erroneous ideological trends, vigilance must be maintained and effective precautions taken. Therefore, it is necessary to implement the responsibility system for ideological work, improve the mechanism for resolving campus safety risk prevention; at the same time, improve the collaborative education mechanism involving schools, families, and society, strive to create a favorable environment where the whole society jointly cares for and supports educational undertakings, and effectively form a powerful synergy for building a strong education system.

在这个过程中，牢牢掌握党对学校意识形态工作的领导权十分重要。学生群体的思维活跃度高，各种思想观点交汇，各种价值观碰撞，在秉持尊重差异、包容多样态度的同时，也必须增强政治的敏锐性和鉴别力。对于在学生群体中可能传播的鱼龙混杂的思想观点，必须过滤净化，不能照单全收。尤其对于各种错误思潮，必须保持警惕、有效防范。因此，必须落实意识形态工作责任制，完善校园安全风险防范的化解机制；同时健全学校家庭社会协同的育人机制，努力营造全社会共同关心支持教育事业的良好环境，切实形成建设教育强国的强大合力。

To strengthen the Party’s overall leadership over educational work, Party building in schools must not engage in empty formalities, put up a facade, or do superficial work. On the one hand, in the selection and appointment of school leadership positions, cadres who are politically reliable, morally excellent, professionally proficient, and enterprising should be chosen; on the other hand, in the construction of grassroots Party organizations, the exemplary vanguard role of teacher and student Party members should be brought into play. Only in this way can the broadest masses of faculty, staff, and students be gathered and united.

要加强党对教育工作的全面领导，学校党建工作不能玩虚功、搞花架子、做表面文章。一方面，要在学校领导岗位的选配上，选择那些政治过硬、品行优良、业务精通、锐意进取的干部；另一方面，在基层党组织建设方面，要发挥好教师和学生党员的先锋模范作用，只有这样，才能把广大教职工和学生最广泛地凝聚团结起来。

Grasp ideological and political education work from the perspective of prioritizing the development of educational undertakings. A country prospers when education prospers; a country is strong when education is strong. Building a strong education system is a foundational project for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Education holds a fundamental, pioneering, and overall position and role. It is necessary to improve the institutional mechanisms for prioritizing the development of educational undertakings, placing educational undertakings in a priority development position in terms of organizational leadership, development planning, and resource guarantees, and striving to build a strong education system. China’s education must take root in China’s soil, that is, to develop modern education with Chinese characteristics and at a world level.

从优先发展教育事业的角度把握思想政治教育工作。教育兴则国家兴，教育强则国家强。建设教育强国是中华民族伟大复兴的基础工程，教育具有基础性、先导性和全局性的地位和作用。必须健全优先发展教育事业的体制机制，在组织领导、发展规划、资源保障上把教育事业摆在优先发展地位，努力建设教育强国。中国的教育必须扎根中国大地，也就是发展有中国特色的、世界水平的现代教育。

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, centering on the fundamental question of what kind of people to cultivate, how to cultivate them, and for whom to cultivate them, we have comprehensively strengthened the Party’s leadership over education, adhered to fostering virtue and nurturing talent, strengthened school ideological and political work, promoted educational reform, accelerated the filling of educational shortcomings, made the Chinese characteristics of educational undertakings more distinct, accelerated the modernization of education, significantly enhanced the people’s sense of gain in education, accelerated the improvement of China’s international influence in education, and comprehensively improved the ideological and moral quality and scientific and cultural quality of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people.

党的十八大以来，我们围绕培养什么人、怎样培养人、为谁培养人这一根本问题，全面加强党对教育工作的领导，坚持立德树人，加强学校思想政治工作，推进教育改革，加快补齐教育短板，教育事业中国特色更加鲜明，教育现代化加速推进，教育方面人民群众获得感明显增强，我国教育的国际影响力加快提升，14亿多中国人民的思想道德素质和科学文化素质全面提升。

Promoting the high-quality development of ideological and political course construction is an indispensable part of developing educational undertakings. Using Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to forge souls and educate people should be the primary task of ideological and political course construction. The scope of ideological and political courses should be expanded both from the temporal dimension and the spatial dimension. From the temporal dimension, ideological and political education should be carried out in a targeted manner according to the different stages of youth development. From the spatial dimension, the “grand ideological and political course” [n1] should be used to expand the spatial scope of ideological and political course construction. In short, ideological and political development should be designed as a whole that unifies continuity and stages.

推动思政课建设的高质量发展是发展教育事业必不可少的一环。要把用习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想铸魂育人，作为思政课建设的首要任务。无论是从时间维度还是从空间维度上，都应拓展思政课的范围。在时间维度上，要针对青少年成长的不同阶段，有针对性地开展思想政治教育。在空间维度上，要运用“大思政”来拓展思政课建设的空间范围。总之，要把思想政治发展作为一个连续性与阶段性统一的整体进行设计。

From the perspective of prioritizing development, higher education is a form of social existence; different social systems determine different purposes of education. The development direction of China’s higher education must be closely integrated with the overall goals and future direction of China’s development, that is, to serve the people, to serve the governance of the country, to serve the consolidation and development of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, and to serve reform and opening up and socialist modernization. This requires that the students we cultivate must adhere to the correct political direction, and this is inseparable from ideological and political education work.

从优先发展事业的角度来讲，高等教育是一种社会存在，不同的社会制度决定着不同教育的目的。我国高等教育的发展方向必须同我国发展的总体目标和未来方向紧密结合在一起，也就是为人民服务，为治国理政服务，为巩固和发展中国特色社会主义制度服务，为改革开放和社会主义现代化建设服务。这就需要我们培养的学生必须坚持正确的政治方向，而这就离不开思想政治教育工作。

Therefore, ideological and political education in higher education institutions is not only a characteristic of China’s higher education but also an advantage of China’s higher education. Facing new situations and new tasks, it can only be strengthened, not weakened; it can only advance, not stagnate; it can only be actively responded to, not passively dealt with. It is necessary to adhere to taking fostering virtue and nurturing talent as the central link, and run ideological and political work through the entire process of education.

因此，高校思想政治教育既是我国高校的特色，也是我国高校的优势。面对新形势新任务，只能加强不能削弱，只能前进不能停滞，只能积极作为不能被动应对，必须坚持把立德树人作为中心环节，把思想政治工作贯穿教育始终。

Strengthen the construction of the team of ideological and political course teachers. Teachers play a crucial guiding role for students; every word and action of a teacher can affect the future development of students. Setting high standards and strict requirements for teachers is perfectly justified; it is responsible both to students and to the nation. As a teacher, especially an ideological and political course teacher, one should cherish one’s profession, not slack off, not relax, and always strictly demand oneself. Strive to become a disseminator of advanced ideology and culture, a firm supporter of the Party’s governance, and a guide and mentor for the healthy growth of students. Have moral integrity, have a sense of responsibility, reflect one’s life value in the educational cause, and be an excellent teacher loved by students with love and responsibility.

加强思政课教师队伍建设。教师对学生起着至关重要的引领作用，教师的一言一行都可能影响学生未来的发展。对教师提出高标准、严要求，是天经地义的，既是对学生负责，也是对民族负责。作为一名教师，特别是思政课教师，应当珍惜自己的职业，不懈怠，不放松，时刻严格要求自己。努力让自己成为先进思想文化的传播者、党执政的坚定支持者，以及学生健康成长的指导者和引路人。有气节，有担当，在教育事业中体现自己的人生价值，带着爱和责任做一名优秀的、受学生喜爱的好老师。

The key to running ideological and political theory courses well lies in the teachers, and the key lies in mobilizing the teachers’ enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity. First, teachers of ideological and political theory courses must be politically strong; they must have a firm belief in Marxism, a conviction in socialism and communism, a high degree of identification with the content they teach, and serve as models for studying and practicing Marxism. To teach ideological and political theory courses with confidence, they must explain the content thoroughly and penetratingly. Second, teachers of ideological and political theory courses must have deep feelings; they must possess feelings for the family and the country, with the nation and the people in their hearts, and they must have a passion for transmitting the Way [2], investing genuine emotion in the educational cause of Marxist theory and maintaining a persistent pursuit of ideological and political theory course education and teaching. Third, teachers of ideological and political theory courses must have innovative thinking; they must learn to apply dialectical materialism and historical materialism, be adept at using innovative thinking and dialectical thinking, be skilled in using the method of contradiction analysis to grasp the key points, identify the priorities, and clarify the laws, innovate classroom teaching, and give students a profound learning experience. Fourth, teachers of ideological and political theory courses must have broad vision; in addition to having a solid foundation in Marxist theory, they must also extensively draw on knowledge from other fields of philosophy, social sciences, and natural sciences. They must have a broad international perspective, neither being closed and conservative nor worshiping foreign things and fawning on foreign powers, guiding students to comprehensively and objectively understand contemporary China and view the external world, and being adept at distinguishing right from wrong through critical discernment. Fifth, teachers of ideological and political theory courses must be strict in self-discipline; teachers of ideological and political theory courses hold the dominant power and discursive power in the classroom, and must consciously promote the main theme and actively transmit positive energy. Sixth, teachers of ideological and political theory courses must have upright character; they must have an honorable personality, using their noble character to influence and win over students. “Make the will sincere and the mind rectified” [3] and “the unity of knowledge and action” [4], consciously setting an example in scholarship and conduct, and becoming people whom students love.

办好思想政治理论课关键在教师，关键在发挥教师的积极性、主动性、创造性。第一，思政课教师政治要强，要有坚定的对马克思主义的信仰，对社会主义和共产主义的信念，对所讲内容高度认同，做学习和实践马克思主义的典范。思政课要讲得有底气，讲深讲透。第二，思政课教师情怀要深，要有家国情怀，心里装着国家和民族，要有传道情怀，对马克思主义理论教育事业投入真情实感，对思政课教育教学有执着追求。第三，思政课教师思维要新，要学会运用辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义，善于运用创新思维、辩证思维，善于运用矛盾分析方法抓住关键、找准重点、阐明规律，创新课堂教学，给学生深刻的学习体验。第四，思政课教师视野要广，除了具有马克思主义理论功底之外，还要广泛涉猎其他哲学社会科学以及自然科学的知识。要有开阔的国际视野，既不封闭保守，也不崇洋媚外，引导学生全面客观认识当代中国、看待外部世界，善于在批判鉴别中明辨是非。第五，思政课教师自律要严，思政课教师掌握着课堂的主导权和话语权，一定要自觉弘扬主旋律，积极传递正能量。第六，思政课教师人格要正，要有堂堂正正的人格，用高尚的人格感染学生、赢得学生。“诚意正心”“知行合一”，自觉做为学为人的表率，做让学生喜爱的人。

(The author is Deputy Secretary of the Youth League Committee of Capital Normal University and a researcher at the Beijing Research Center

（作者系首都师范大学校团委副书记、北京市习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心研究员）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心