Speech at the Inaugural Conference of the Shanghai Primary and Secondary Schools Curriculum and Teaching Materials Reform Committee (Excerpts)

Abstract

We are exceedingly happy today to have among us, attending this conference, so many senior educational leaders and so many celebrities from all walks of life and social circles, as well as comrades who are dedicated to the cause of basic education. This greatly increases our confidence in our ability to do a good job of promoting basic education in our city, and emboldens our effort to do an even better job of promoting the reforms in the curriculum and teaching materials for basic education. In the early stages of preparation for the establishment of this committee, in order that we may be effective in the "systems engineering project" of reforming the curriculum and the teaching materials, we had decided to enlist the help and services of a number of senior veterans and leaders of education who are truly and substantially learned, who have impeccable reputations and are highly respected in the field, and who are, as we all know, deeply dedicated to basic education, to assist us as consultants and advisers to this curriculum and teaching materials reform committee. We have been deeply moved by the fact that in all matters related to this and to our invitation and pleading, almost no one whom we have approached for this purpose has declined, instead, everyone has given us great support. Indeed, our new mayor, Comrade Zhu Rongji, brought up the issue of emphasizing education in the fifth point that he made in his inaugural speech delivered to the People's Congress. He placed education at the forefront of the strategic issues of concern for his administration. On this issue, he made four points. The first was to strengthen basic education. He said that basic education was truly and simply too important in people's lives to be set aside. As a demonstration of how important and deep-seated an influence basic education has had on him, he recited the value of for us, to twenty-some decimal points!