E-MAIL
The 8th Meeting of BRICS Education Ministers was held online on July 6th. Vice Minister of Education Tian Xuejun attended the meeting and shared China’s experience in moving classrooms online and ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all during the height of COVID-19. He also presented key initiatives China had introduced to promote the further use of digital technology in education and teaching post-COVID.
In terms of the application of digital technology, Tian said that the MOE launched online education at all levels of education during the COVID-19 lockdown in the first half of 2020, and coordinated pandemic control and prevention efforts across the education system, to ensure equitable education for all. He pledged that China would systematically share its experience in large-scale online education, and strengthen cooperation with other BRICS countries in areas such as “Internet + education”, development of educational infrastructure, information literacy training for teachers and students, and quality control for online courses.
Tian said that China attached great importance to cooperation in scientific research and academic cooperation with other BRICS countries and would continue to help universities participate in BRICS cooperation mechanisms to jointly address global challenges. He urged all BRICS countries to bring together their strengths in science and technology, as well as industrial resources, to create an innovative platform for cooperation between industry, academia and research in vocational education. He also called for expanding the breadth and depth of universities’ participation in BRICS cooperation mechanisms to enhance the leadership of BRICS countries in the field of scientific research. In addition, he said that further scholarly exchange in the humanities would help create a stronger foundation for cooperation in scientific research. He further pledged that China was ready to work with other BRICS countries to explore innovative models of education, toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
This year"s meeting was hosted by the Indian Ministry of Education and attended by the education ministers of India, China, Brazil, Russia, and South Africa. The participating ministers all expressed their desire to promote the development of quality education and strengthen cooperation and exchange in scientific research. At the end of the meeting, a joint declaration was adopted.