Universities told to reduce class sizes for political theory courses

Universities in the country should reduce the size of ideological and political theory courses in order to better promote political ideology among students.

Colleges in China should restrict ideological and political theory courses to a maximum of 100 students, according to a notice released by the Ministry of Education (MOE) on Thursday.

Ideological and political theory courses should not be arranged for nights or weekends, and teachers should not have an over-concentration of classes during the week.

The notice requires universities to give more weight to ideological and political theory courses, thus improving their quality and giving students an affinity for the courses. Universities should “make those ideologies and theories enter students’ ears.”

Officials in universities were asked to take political responsibility for implementing ideological and political theory courses.

The Party secretary, principal and division leader of a university should attend all compulsory ideological and political theory courses at least once each semester.

Universities should also ensure a ratio of one full-time teacher for 35 students for ideological and political theory courses.

Zhuang Deshui, deputy director of the Research Center for Government Integrity-Building at Peking University, told the Global Times that ideological work has faced challenges since multiple thoughts and trends are popular in colleges nowadays, adding that some students do not believe in Marxism and some teachers have made improper remarks in classes.

Zhuang noted that the spread of incorrect ideological theories in universities could affect their direction and future development, leading to a lack of social belief threatening the ruling foundation of the CPC.