Liu Li (second from left), a teacher from the Party school of Boxing county in Shandong Province, reads Party regulations for the county's Party members on Thursday. Photo: IC

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Sunday released a document on Party school work, urging efforts to intensify ideological and political education among its 88 million members.

The Party schools' work forms an important part of the CPC's work, and the schools play a vital role in improving the Party's ruling capacity, said the document adopted at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on November 23.

"To realize the goal of building a moderately prosperous society and the Chinese dream of great national rejuvenation, the key is to mold a troop of officials that are as strong as iron in belief, faith, discipline and sense of responsibility," President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said at a meeting on Party schools, which ended Saturday.

In the face of a rapidly changing international situation and an arduous task of reform at home, the CPC's governance is going through unprecedented tests, said an unidentified official with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

Party schools should assume the task of "supplementing calcium and strengthening bones" for Party officials, and the work of Party schools should be strengthened, rather than weakened, the official said.

The document noted that the fundamental principle for Party schools is to adhere to the "right political direction;" strictly observe the Party's political discipline, rules and regulations; and maintain a high degree of conformity with the CPC Central Committee in ideology and action.

It stressed that the Party schools should be run in a manner consistent with CPC beliefs, and all teaching and research work must be conducted in accordance with the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee.

A Party first

"It is the first time that the CPC has put forward clearly the Party schools' fundamental principles in a document," said the official. "The move is aimed at warning Party schools not to swerve from the 'right direction.'"

According to the document, Party schools should strengthen the education of officials on the CPC's theories, especially the latest achievements in adapting Marxism to Chinese conditions. Party officials should enhance their faith in the country's development path and the CPC's theories through studying Marxism in contemporary China, and learn to link theories with practice.

The document specified Party schools' courses on the Party's theories, history, ideals and beliefs. Moreover, it stressed that special attention should be paid to education on the Party constitution as well as its regulations and discipline in the work of Party schools at all levels.

According to a survey conducted by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), courses on the Party Constitution and other rules and regulations provided by Party schools currently only account for 2.5 percent of total class hours.

The document also pointed out that Party schools should become a leading think tank for both the government and the CPC, pushing forward innovation in theories in the new era and deepening research on the country's major decisions and plans as well as hot social issues.

Senior leaders of the CPC should take the lead in giving lectures to Party school students, while leaders at the province, city and county levels are required to give at least one lecture in local Party schools every year, according to the document. It is a Party tradition for its leaders to go to the Party schools to give lessons, and such a practice can ensure the high quality of Party schools' teaching, said the official with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

Xi gave lessons to students 19 times while serving as president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee from 2007 to 2012.


Newspaper headline: Learning to be leaders