Summary:

On January 30th, China's Ministry of Education announced new teaching quality standards for 92 broad subject areas, covering a total of 587 disciplines. As previously reported on SIEM, these standards set out minimum requirements for curriculum contents as well as detailed targets to raise the teaching ability of academic staff. In recognition of the high level of variation between Chinese HEIs across China, the standards set out both bottom lines and targets, as well as giving space for institutions to develop beyond the specified requirements.

Each of the 92 standards follows the same format, with eight components:

  • An overview of the scope, content and broad themes of the standard
  • A detailed explanation of the scope of the subject area
  • Principles and requirements for the way that universities should set talent development targets within the subject area
  • Specifications for the knowledge and skills that should be taught on the programme, along with credit-hours, degrees awarded and other requirements.
  • Specifications for the number, professional / educational background and professional development of teaching staff within the subject area
  • Requirements for teaching conditions and resources, such as facilities, investment, books and equipment.
  • Quality assurance systems, monitoring mechanisms and systems for graduate feedback
  • An appendix of relevant knowledge and core modules, along with relevant quantitative standards

The Ministry of Education has set up a steering committee of 119 experts in order to help guide HEIs in implementing the new standards over the period from 2018 to 2022.

Analysis by Kevin Prest:

These new standards illustrate China's goals for an improvement of the country's higher education system, but contrast with other recent policies such as the World Class Universities project in that they are largely aimed at bringing up standards at less-elite institutions. UK institutions operating transnational education programmes in China should also be aware of these new standards, and work with their Chinese partners to ensure that their courses meet these standards.

Sources:

1. An introduction of the "National Quality Standards for Bachelor's Degree Subject Areas" (MoE, in Chinese): http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/xw_fbh/moe_2069/xwfbh_2018n/xwfb_20180130/sfcl/201801/t20180130_325921.html

2. Chinese government to set national standards for undergraduate courses in 92 subject areas (SIEM News, December 2017): https://education-services.britishcouncil.org/news/market-news/chinese-government-set-national-standards-undergraduate-courses-92-subject-areas