On 31 January 2024, a parallel meeting on the digitalization of education governance and governance of digital education took place in Shanghai during the 2024 World Digital Education Conference. Guided by the Secretariat of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, it was jointly hosted by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange, Donghua University, UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning and its Institute for Information Technologies in Education. The Teacher Education Centre under the auspices of UNESCO and UNESCO Chair on AI in Education organized the meeting. Chen Jie, China’s Vice Minister of Education and Chair of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, attended and delivered remarks.
Remarks on digital technology and education governance
Chen said that rapid advances in digital technology brought unprecedented challenges and opportunities to education worldwide and were profoundly changing educational ideas, models and forms.
He described the Chinese government’s attention to both the digitalization of education governance and governance of digital education, and its exploration of digital governance. Referring to the Interim Measures for the Management of Generative Artificial Intelligence Services, he emphasized giving equal importance to development and security, and combining innovation with law-based governance.
Chen also discussed support for in-depth cooperation among educational and research institutions in technological innovation, resource development, practical application and risk prevention. He spoke about establishing an expert advisory committee on educational digitalization and an AI ethics committee, developing standards for digital education applications, and addressing the risks and challenges AI presented to education.
International cooperation, equity and inclusion
Looking ahead, Chen said China was willing to exchange and cooperate with other countries in both areas, advance digitalized education governance, and explore scientific rules and standards for governing digital education so that it would be equitable, inclusive and beneficial to everyone.
Participants and four discussion themes
More than 200 participants attended, including ministerial-level representatives from Angola and Uzbekistan; representatives of UNESCO, the World Bank and UNICEF; and representatives of government agencies, universities and enterprises in China and abroad. They discussed four themes:
- National practices and innovative experience in digitalizing education governance and governing digital education.
- Participation and action by diverse stakeholders in both areas.
- Challenges and cooperation in both areas.
- Quality assurance and mutual recognition of diplomas and qualifications in the digital age.
Archive and sources
Archive note: the original 31 January 2024 publication date, Chinese title and URL are retained. A repeated phrase in the original wording about scientific rules and standards has been removed against the corresponding China Education Daily report carried by the Ministry of Education. Positions, policy descriptions, cooperation intentions and attendance figures refer to the 2024 meeting, rather than current legal guidance or a statement of subsequent outcomes.
Sources and illustration: the text is checked against the Ministry of Education’s original release information and pages 32–33 of the conference materials preserved by CIT (PDF pages 38–39). The illustration is the complete China Education Release bulletin, issue 8, dated 31 January 2024. The original archive credits Cao Jian as responsible editor.
Related reports and resources
Related content: release of the Compilation of International Digital Education Cases, policy and governance resources, and special and inclusive education resources.
Original link: https://aiedchair.bnu.edu.cn/news-6558-en/
