Wu Qidi, Minister for Education of The People’s Republic of China, speaks at an international conference on the challenges facing education in China.
In today’s world, human society is experiencing a knowledge- and information-based society or knowledge economy. The human factor is the most dynamic factor in social productive forces. Man as the possessor, disseminator and creator of knowledge, compared to other resources like material, capital and information, is characterised by independent thinking and action. He directly determines the degree of development and utilisation of other resources and is becoming the key factor in the development of social productive forces and the power engine for the development of the economy and society.
The human capital a man can possess includes the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are found in him. It is a combination of both, the congenital and the acquired elements, that must be formed through education and training. Education is the basis for human resource development. It is an important area in which human capital investment is made. It is in consideration of the great role played by education and human resource development in the development of the economy and society that the Chinese government has formulated the strategies of ‘Rejuvenating China Through Science and Technology’ and ‘Strengthening China Through Human Resource Development’, meaning that China is determined to increase human capital investment, develop all types of education, construct a learning society by featuring education for all and lifelong learning, with the final goal of transferring the heavy burden of over-population into a great advantage of human resources …
Generally speaking, the foundations for education and human resource development in China are still weak. There are still countries where the nine year compulsory education has not been universalised; the overall educational quality of some areas where nine year compulsory education has been universalised is relatively low and demands continuing consolidation and improvement; the poverty-stricken areas are still in need of classrooms and schools and operational conditions are still a far cry from the bottom standard stipulated by the Chinese Ministry of Education; the research conditions and equipment standards of our institutions of higher learning are still backward, their capabilities for scientific innovation underdeveloped … The gap between the need to develop education and the shortage of investment in education is still acute …
At present, China has entered the new developmental stage of building the nation into a well-off society in an all-round way and is further perfecting the system of the socialist market economy. The industrialisation, urbanisation and marketisation processes that are under way are … exerting profound influence on the reform and development of education.
Wu, Qidi. 2004. "Education – Investment in Human Capital." in The 34th ISC-Symposium. University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
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