By the first half year of 2025, the fundamental national policy of gender equality had been included in the curricula of 661 "pilot schools" in South China's Guangdong Province. Nearly 10 million students, in more than 110 county-level units, took those courses.
Guangdong has established a multidepartment, province-wide coordinated-work mechanism, in recent years, to ensure the fundamental national policy of gender equality is included in primary- and secondary-school education. A leading work group and an experts' work group have been formed, and a group of model schools have been developed. Courses have been developed and continuously improved, an advanced teachers' team has been cultivated, and an assessment has been conducted to evaluate the effects of those measures.
For example, a notice was issued, in August 2018, by Guangdong provincial working committee on children and women, the provincial department of education and the provincial women's federation. The notice clarified education involving the fundamental national policy of gender equality should be included in the educational curricula provided to students at primary, secondary and secondary-vocational schools in Guangdong beginning in September 2018. Since then, more than 1,500 teachers have been trained to teach courses on the gender-equality policy. Moreover, experts have been organized to provide educational guidance at schools.
Concrete measures have also been taken to help primary- and secondary-school students raise their awareness of gender equality. For example, the importance of the equality of men and women is emphasized during group activities organized by schools in Shenzhen and Shaoguan (both cities in Guangdong). Students are encouraged to post handwritten newspapers on specially designed noticeboards to promote the gender-equality policy. Students also participate in speech contests and art performances to promote the concept of gender equality.
In other cities, the promotion of the gender-equality policy has been combined with sports, scientific and innovative education, and intangible-cultural-heritage-related activities organized for children.
(Source: Guangdong Provincial Working Committee on Children and Women/Women of China)
Editor: Ye Shan
