On July 9, 2019, the State Council Information Office (SCIO) held a press conference on the Opinions on Deepening Education and Teaching Reform to Improve the Quality of Compulsory Education Comprehensively ("the opinions"). 

Zheng Fuzhi, vice minister of education, said at the press conference that the solution to the problem of primary school students' academic burdens being too heavy is to improve classroom efficiency and put an end to the practice of training ahead of time and beyond the standard. 

He also said since the beginning of the reform and opening-up, especially since the 18th CPC National Congress, China's compulsory education has made remarkable achievements and attained comprehensive popularization. But there are still some challenges with compulsory education that need to be solved urgently.

At the meeting, Zheng Fuzhi, vice minister of education; Lv Yugang, director general of the Department of Basic Education; and Liu Changya, director general of the Department of Development Planning explained aspects of "the opinions," such as the quality of classroom education and improving standards related to the use of technology in the classroom, and answered questions.

"The opinions" put forward five important measures for classroom improvement and skill building for teachers, including leadership responsibilities and resources. 

In 2018, the retention ratio of nine-year compulsory education reached 94.2 percent. Now, it is at a new stage which emphasizes quality education with targeted measures to build an education system comprising an all-round cultivation of morality, intelligence, physique, beauty and labor.

Reform measures have also been put forward to develop education and skills of teachers, optimize the allocation of resources, guarantee their rights and benefits according to law, and strengthen the construction of principals.

"The opinions" also call for reforms in key areas such as curriculum materials, enrollment and examination, quality evaluation, teaching and research, school-running vitality and funding to create conditions for improving the quality of compulsory education.

Responding to questions, Zheng said "the opinions" proposed that innovating education methods is necessary, making the simple class education heuristic, interactive and inquiry-based, and promoting the classroom revolution, which helps make students’ learning process more flexible and efficient.

When talking about reducing academic burden, Zheng said according to survey, the academic burdens should not be too heavy, not go beyond the children's ability to bear and not harm the children's physical and mental health development.

Lv Yugang, director general of the Department of Basic Education, said with the rapid development of online education, a large swath of digital educational resources is being applied to schools. The aforementioned plays a pivotal role in promoting pedagogy, thus improving the quality of education.

He however noted that some unhealthy and harmful apps have entered the schools due to a lack of supervision. He said to solve this problem effectively, the general office of the Ministry of Education issued a notice "banning harmful apps from entering primary and secondary schools" on December 28, 2018. 

A double-examination system has also been established, he said, and whoever is in charge will be responsible for any problems. Apps can be used in schools only after passing the examination. Other requirements and provisions were also put forward to better manage the change.

Lv Yugang said relevant departments are working on "guiding the healthy development of mobile Internet application in education" to actively explore the establishment of a long-term management mechanism for digital teaching resources in schools and carry out effective standard management of digital teaching resources.