Experts strive to improve graduate education

By Yuan Yue (China Daily Shaanxi Bureau)
Updated: 2009-11-02 16:37

Fifty-seven officials from elite Chinese graduate schools will be exploring issues on the improvement of graduate school education at the ACGS (Association of Chinese Graduate Schools) annual joint meeting on October 30.

The three-day event, themed "Exploration and Innovation", is hosted by Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU) this year, in collaboration with the graduate schools of Peking University, Nanjing University and Xiamen University.

"Education is fundamental; the quality of our graduates will determine the soft power of our nation if China is to - and will become a world power," Zheng Nanning, president of XJTU, said in his keynote speech.

The event calls for more exchanges with overseas universities to discuss the practice of international collaboration in graduate education and the demand for human resources within a global context.

"We are far from perfect in many aspects of graduate education," said Lin Huiqing, Assistant Minister of Education. "There is still a long way to go before we can entirely adapt our system to the demands of society."

"I hope, therefore, we can better the standards of academic degrees and graduate education after this joint meeting," Lin added.

An international forum on graduate education will follow the meeting.