Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China is a cabinet-level department under the State Council responsible for basic education, vocational education, higher education, and other educational affairs across the country. 

The Ministry of Education acts as a funder for most of the national public universities and colleges in China. The ministry also accredits tertiary institutions, curriculum, and school teachers. It is headquartered in Xicheng, Beijing.

History 
The Ministry of Education was one of the first Government Administration Council departments created when the People's Republic of China was founded in October 1949. The work of the ministry was overseen by the Culture and Education Commission that was created at the same time. On October 19, writer and poet Guo Moruo was made the director of the commission, and linguist Ma Xulun was made the first education minister of the People's Republic of China.

The Ministry of Education was established in 1949 as the Ministry of Education of the Central People's Government, and was renamed the State Education Commission of the People's Republic of China from 1985 to 1998.  Its current title was assigned during the restructuring of the State Council in 1998.

In 2003, China's Ministry of Education called for adding environmental education content throughout the public school curriculum from the first year of primary school through the second year of high school. Its guidelines on environmental education emphasized firsthand experience and recommended that a quarter of environmental education content should consist of "practice activities."

Development of the political counselor system 
In 1952, the Ministry of Education sought to develop a system of political counselors as a pilot program in universities. Tsinghua University established a political counselor program in 1953, becoming the first university to do so. In this program, new graduates who were also Communist Party members worked as political counselors in managing the student body and student organizations, often simultaneously serving as Communist Youth League secretaries.

The program was interrupted by the Cultural Revolution but resumed in 1977. After its endorsement by Deng Xiaoping, the program expanded across higher educational institutions.

Beginning in the 1990s, the political counselor system was further institutionalized and expanded in higher educational institutions throughout China, with the Ministry issuing standardized rules such as term limits and age limits in 2000.

List of Education Ministers

See also

Education in China
History of education in China
List of universities and colleges in Beijing
List of universities in China
English Medium Medical Schools
Ministries of the People's Republic of China
Guozijian

References

External links 
 

Education
China
Education in China
China, Education