China will incorporate “Xi Jinping Thought” into its national curriculum to help “establish Marxist belief” in the country’s youth, the education ministry has revealed. The Ministry of Education said Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era” would be taught from primary school level all the way to university.
This is the latest effort by Mr Xi to consolidate the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s role in different areas of society. The move is aimed at strengthening “resolve to listen to and follow the Party” and new teaching materials must “cultivate patriotic feelings”, according to new guidelines released by the ministry. Since coming to power in 2012, President Xi has sought to strengthen the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s role in all areas of society, including its businesses, schools and cultural institutions. In a statement, the MOE said it aimed “to cultivate the builders and successors of socialism with an all-round moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic grounding”. The guidelines include labour education “to cultivate their hard-working spirit” and education on national security. “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism With Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” was formally enshrined in the country’s constitution in 2018. Mr Xi’s personal power has also been strengthened by the abolition of presidential term limits.
Previous Chinese leaders have come up with their own political ideologies which have been incorporated into the party’s constitution or thinking. But none, besides party founder Mao Zedong, have had their ideology described as “thought”, which is at the top of the hierarchy, and only Mao and Deng Xiaoping have had their names attached to their ideologies.
