Source: Chinese Social Sciences Today, 2013-3-11, Issue 425
Written by: Feng Aiqin, Zheng Fei, Lu Hang, Zhai Jiangling
Translated by: Tan Shan

【Core Tip】Xu Ningsheng expressed that, for colleges and universities, to improve the quality of education means to cultivate high-quality talents. As for how to measure the “high-quality talents” in higher education, Xu Ningsheng thought that it would mainly depend on the extent of the students being accepted by society and the degree of their contribution to society.

The prosperity of the country, the revitalization of the nation, and the happiness of people are inseparable from the development of higher education. At the “two sessions” this year, NPC deputies and CPPCC members from education field combine their own career and the realization of the “China dream”, and actively present advice and suggestions for the development of higher education in China.

Cultivating excellent talents is fundamental

Xu Ningsheng, an NPC Deputy and President of Sun Yat-sen University, thought that colleges and universities should make good use of funds to elevate education quality to a new height under the circumstance that the country has increased the investment in higher education in successive years.

In Xu Ningsheng’s view, for the country and the government, educational development in essence is to solve the issue of human resources. This includes two levels: first, to improve the quality of nationals; second, to provide high-quality human resources. He said that it is a significant connotation of educational development to improve the quality of nationals, and we should attach importance to the cultivation of quality in elementary education and even in pre-school education rather than start to emphasize it until in university.

"Among scientific research, education and service to the society, the most fundamental task is talent cultivation.” Xu Ningsheng expressed that, for colleges and universities, to improve the quality of education means to cultivate high-quality talents. As for how to measure the “high-quality talents” in higher education, Xu Ningsheng thought that it would mainly depend on the extent of the students being accepted by society and the degree of their contribution to society. In terms of the development of universities themselves, first, they need to consider that the specialty setup should adapt to the needs of social development; second, the entire university should have an accurate positioning, have its own characteristics and set clear educational goals. Xu Ningsheng introduced that a change at SYSU is the greater importance attached to undergraduate education in improving teaching quality. Last year, its input to undergraduate education was increased by 17%. A batch of senior professors and distinguished professors began to teach courses to undergraduates. Meanwhile, strict classroom discipline was also emphasized.