Speech at the National Conference on Ideological and Political Work in Respect to Colleges and Universities
An Important Speech delivered by Xi Jinping at the National Conference on Ideological and Political Work in Colleges and Universities held in Beijing on December 7, 2016.
Xi Jinping emphasized that the ideological and political work in colleges and universities is related to the fundamental question of what kind of people to train and how to train and for whom to train them. He pointed out that the central link should be to cultivate people through virtue, emphasize ideological and political work through the whole process of education and teaching, and lead the whole process of educating and teaching people in an all-round way and strive to create a new situation in the development of higher education in China. China's higher education shoulders the important task of cultivating builders and successors of socialist cause who will have a comprehensive development in respect to morality, intelligence, physique and beauty.
Xi Jinping pointed out that China's higher education institutions should firmly undertake the important task of cultivating builders and successors of socialist cause who will have a comprehensive development in respect to morality, intelligence, physique and beauty, besides colleges and universities should adhere to the correct political direction in running schools.
The correct political direction means that the development direction of China's higher education must be closely linked with the realistic goals and future directions of our development, serve the people, serve the Communist Party of China, govern the country, serve to consolidate and develop the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, and serve reform, opening up, and the construction of socialist modernization.
Adhering to the correct political direction, means it is necessary to clarify that the foundation of colleges and universities lies in training and teaching people by virtue. And only the universities in which the first-class talents are trained can be the first-class universities in the world. We must firmly grasp the core point of comprehensively improving the ability to train talents. Xi Jinping emphasized that our university is a university under the leadership of the Party and it is a socialist university with Chinese characteristics. To run our colleges and universities well, we must adhere to the guidance of Marxism and fully implement the Party's education policy.
Marxist theories, and lay a scientific ideological foundation for students' growth and development. It is necessary to persistently cultivate and promote the core values of socialism, and guide the majority of teachers and students to be staunch believers, active communicators, and model practitioners of the core values of socialism. We should persistently promote the harmony and stability of colleges and universities, cultivate a healthy mentality of rational peace, strengthen humane care and psychological counseling, and build colleges and universities into a model place of stability and unity. It is necessary to persistently cultivate excellent school style and style of study, so that the development of colleges and universities can achieve good governance, proper management, and good morals.
Ideological and political work is fundamentally a person's work, which should focus on students, should care for students, and serve students, and constantly improve students' ideological level, political awareness, moral quality, and cultural literacy, so that students can be both morally competent and comprehensively skilled. Xi Jinping emphasized that we should educate and guide students to have four correct understandings: The first one is correct understanding of the development trend of the world and China, establishing the belief and confidence to strive for the lofty ideal of communism and the common ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Secondly, correctly understand Chinese characteristics and able to make international comparisons, comprehensively and objectively understand contemporary China and the outside World.
Thirdly, make them correctly understand the responsibility of the times and historical mission, illuminate the way forward, inspire students to consciously integrate their personal pursuit of the ideal into the cause of the country and the nation, and be pioneers in the forefront of the times. Fourthly, train them to be ambitious as well as down-to-earth in selecting their future jobs, putting ambitions into practice, make diligent learning become the driving force for students’ conduct and let their abilities grow into the energy of youth fighting.
To do a good job of ideological and political work in colleges and universities, we must adapt to the new situation, advance with the times and innovate according to the situation, and it is necessary to follow the rules of ideological and political work, follow the rules of teaching and educating people, follow the rules of student growth, and constantly improve work ability and level.
In order to make good use of the main channel of classroom teaching, ideological and political theory courses must be continuously strengthened in improvement, the affinity and pertinence of ideological and political education should be enhanced, and also meet the needs and expectations of students' growth and development. Universities and colleges should see that students’ normal teaching program courses and ideological and political theory teaching courses go in the same direction so that these two aspects can form a synergy effect. It is necessary to speed up the construction of a discipline system and textbook system of philosophy and social science with Chinese characteristics, establish a scientific and authoritative, open and transparent evaluation system for the study results of philosophy and social sciences, as well as, we should pay more attention to educating people with culture and cultural confidence, extensively carry out the establishment of civilized campuses, carry out diverse, healthy and elegant campus cultural activities, and carry out various social practices. Xi Jinping pointed out: To run our country's higher education well, we must adhere to the Party's leadership and firmly grasp the Party's leadership over the work of colleges and universities to make colleges and universities strong bases which uphold the Party's leadership.
The Party committees must ensure that the colleges and universities follow the correct direction, pay full attention to the ideological and political work of the colleges and universities, and ensure that the colleges and universities will always be strong bases to train builders and successors of the socialist cause. Party committees at all levels should place ideological and political work in colleges and universities in an important position, strengthen their leadership and guidance, and form a unified working pattern of the Party committee's unified leadership jointly with various relevant departments.
Xi Jinping emphasized that the Party committee of universities should implement overall leadership in school work, assumes the main responsibility of governing the Party and running schools, and manages the overall situation, makes decisions, and guarantees their implementation.
It is necessary to strengthen the construction of the Party's primary organizations in colleges and universities, innovate institutional mechanisms, improve the working methods, and improve the Party's primary organizations' ability to do ideological and political work. We must do a good job of developing Party members among college teachers and students, strengthen the the education and management of Party members, and ensure that each teacher and student Party member loves the Party, speaks the Party, and acts for the Party.
The “Speech” has profoundly answered a series of important questions concerning the improvement of higher education and ideological and political work in colleges and universities which has a strong political, ideological and pertinent nature, which is a programmatic document guiding the ideological and political work in colleges and universities under the new situation and it is of great significance for running socialist university with Chinese characteristics and promoting the development of the cause of the Party and the country.