Voice from the Two Sessions | 41 Representatives Proposed to Amend the “Regulations on Promoting Lifelong Education in Shanghai”

Currently, the two sessions of Shanghai are in progress. Huang Zongkui, a representative of the Shanghai People’s Congress, jointly proposed a bill on the revision of the “Regulations on Promoting Lifelong Education in Shanghai” with 40 other representatives, including Shi Zheng, Zhang Dandan, and Li Yugang.

The bill points out that in 2011, the Standing Committee of the 13th Shanghai People’s Congress passed the “Regulations on Promoting Lifelong Education in Shanghai” (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulations”), which was implemented from May 1 of that year. The introduction of the “Regulations” has promoted the accelerated development of lifelong education in Shanghai, met the lifelong learning needs of citizens, and played a positive role in promoting the construction of a learning society. However, with the rapid development of society and the changing needs of citizens’ lifelong learning, as well as the reform of government institutions, the relevant content of the “Regulations” has not been able to meet today’s learning society construction requirements and citizens’ lifelong learning needs. The main manifestations are as follows: the scope of application indicated by the “Regulations” is too broad and the boundary is not clear enough; after the adjustment of Shanghai’s administrative divisions and the reform of government institutions, the relevant government departments and their functions in the “Regulations” do not match the existing departments, and it is difficult for departmental responsibilities to be fulfilled; with the acceleration of aging population, there is a high demand for education for the elderly, and the relevant regulations on elderly education in the “Regulations” are difficult to meet today’s learning needs of elderly citizens; with the promotion of building a learning society, the level of lifelong education security stipulated in the “Regulations” cannot meet today’s demand for the development of lifelong education; the structure of the “Regulations” is not standardized, with 35 items expressed in parallel, with unclear logical structure and insufficient clarity; etc.

Therefore, this proposal suggests initiating the revision of the “Regulations” to keep it up with the times and promote the healthy development of lifelong education in Shanghai in the new era. The specific revision suggestions are as follows:

1. Reflect the normative and precise nature of laws and regulations. The original “Regulations” list all provisions together without classification, lacking clarity. It is suggested to divide it into general principles, specific principles (such as responsibilities and division of labor, platforms and resources, mechanisms and guarantees, etc.), and supplementary principles. The logical aspects of the “Regulations” need to be further clarified. For example, Articles 8 to 10 on funding are placed in the middle of many responsibilities and division of labor provisions, and it is suggested to separately list them in the chapter of “Mechanisms and Funding Guarantees”. The words used in the “Regulations” need to be standardized according to the current situation. For example, Shanghai currently has no more “county”, but the “county” appears many times in the “Regulations”. The second article defines “modern national education system” which includes adult education, which does not conform to the scope of application of this Regulation. The agencies (units) appearing in the “Regulations” should be sorted out, units that no longer exist should be removed, and reference should be made to the “Regulations on Document Processing for Party and Government Offices” (Zhongban Fa [2012]) to use standardized full names or abbreviations for existing agencies (units).

2. Guarantee the macroscopic and authoritative nature of laws and regulations. First, provisions need to be streamlined. Articles 26 to 31 and Article 34 elaborate on many provisions related to training institutions, which are suggested to be streamlined; related content can be formed separately as supplementary materials to the regulations. After the release of the “Regulations”, more than 90% of relevant laws and regulations at the national level concerning training institutions have been revised, and more than 50 national and municipal policies and documents have been issued. It is suggested to revise relevant provisions on training institutions with reference to newly issued laws, regulations and policies.

3. Meet the times and forward-looking nature of social development. For example, due to the practical requirements of institution simplification, Article 4 responsible for coordinating and guiding lifelong education work within the jurisdiction has been required to be cancelled in each district, resulting in only educational administrative departments promoting lifelong education work; facing increasingly severe aging issues in the city, only Article 16 mentions old-age education in the “Regulations”; facing social development trends such as digitalization and labor quality improvement, only Articles 15 and 22 have a few words to reflect coping strategies. The above does not meet the brand-new and diverse needs of lifelong education development in line with current times.

4. Strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of regulation implementation. Multi-party participation is essential for lifelong

You May Have Missed