China introduces President Xi’s political ideology in national curriculum

In the latest effort to consolidate the grip of Communist Party of China (CPC) on the Chinese society, China will introduce President Xi Jinping’s political ideology in its national curriculum for students at all levels.

Country’s Ministry of Education announced this on Tuesday saying that “Xi Jinping thought” aimed to cultivate the builders and successors of socialism.

The guidelines include labour education “to cultivate their hard-working spirit” and education on national security.

Since Xi Jinping became chairman of the CPC in late 2012, he had consolidated his grip on power with the high-intensity anti-corruption campaign in which over a million officials including several top military personnel were punished.

He has also launched several political initiatives including the realization of the Chinese dream broadly defined as reclaiming the lost greatness of the nation, making China a moderately prosperous society, elimination of absolute poverty, consolidation of the CPC’s power over the military and integration of Hong Kong and Taiwan with the mainland, etc. Amid these crackdowns, Xi also tightened the grip on country’s education sector in a bid to remove the influence of western education on the society.

This impacted private players and tuition industry in the education sector who were forced to shut their institutes resulting in large unemployment in the sector.
“Xi Jinping Thought” has 14 main principles which emphasize Communist ideals and emphasizes “absolute authority of the party over the people’s army” and also the importance of “one country two systems and reunification with the motherland”.

As per the new curriculum, the primary schools will focus on cultivating the love for the country, the CPC and socialism. In middle schools, the focus will be on a combination of perceptual experience and knowledge study, to help students form basic political judgments and opinions. In colleges, there will be more emphasis on the establishment of theoretical thinking, state media reported.
Considered as the most powerful leader after the first CPC chairman Mao Zedong, Xi is widely expected to continue in power for an unprecedented third term beginning late next year.