China's cabinet approves successive education funding for normal students

The State Council, or China's cabinet, has approved the implementation measures for the successive education of public-funded normal students for Bachelor's and Master's degrees starting from this year.

Six normal universities directly under the Ministry of Education will support public-funded normal students to pursue a full-time master's degree at their universities without examination and then fulfill their teaching commitments, according to a notice released by the ministry on Friday.

These universities will admit such students in advance batches, focusing on training primary and secondary school teachers in areas outside the provincial capitals of the central and western regions.

The initiative aims to further optimize the allocation of high-quality teaching resources within provinces, the notice said.

Normal students involved in the initiative will undergo four years of undergraduate study and a two year master's program.

After completing the first year of graduate education, the students will choose their teaching location within the specified areas of their home province based on their assessment rankings from undergraduate studies.

The central government will fund these normal students' tuition and accommodation fees during their six-year at school, as well as providing them with living subsidies, according to the implementation measure.

The students are required to work in primary and secondary schools for more than six years after graduation, it said.

Local authorities are urged to develop five-year professional development plans to nurture these students into leading talent in basic education and leaders in primary and secondary schools, further promoting local education reform and development, it added.