China transforms education through introduction of AI courses

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly prevalent in primary and secondary school classrooms across China, providing a modern approach to education while fostering scientific thinking and innovative skills among students.

In 2024, China's Ministry of Education issued a major policy promoting AI education in primary and secondary school classrooms. The goal is to achieve full coverage of AI educational courses by 2030.

The requirements are very clear. Primary school students will focus on experiencing AI, while high school students will develop skills that can be applied to AI projects.

The importance of AI education comes as no surprise, and cultivating interest is the first step. From robots to programing courses on AI, experts say a future-oriented education revolution is now unfolding.

At a school in Chengdu, the capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province, when Generation Z encounters an AI humanoid robot, the future of education is redefined. These primary and high school students are full of curiosity about AI and humanoid robots.

"We can now see the future very clearly. For example, 10 or 20 years from now, just like these primary and high school students, they will definitely face the world of artificial intelligence after they start working. The future determines they must learn artificial intelligence from now on," said Feng Zhenyu, CEO of Sichuan Embodied Intelligent Robot Technology.

How to use AI programming to build small robots has become a compulsory course in some primary schools.

"We are earnestly promoting the strategic action of digital education and carrying out a series of application scenarios such as moral education, teaching, sports, aesthetic and scientific education enabled by AI," said Tang Min, deputy director of the Chengdu Education Bureau.

Wang Zhiyong, Communist Party secretary at the Experimental Middle School of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, said he believes China is focused on promoting scientific education, introducing advanced concepts and educational methods from universities into basic education, and better cultivating innovative talents.

"We have opened an elective course called Mathematical Modeling and AI. The course is mainly taught by university teachers. The foundation of artificial intelligence is mathematics. We will introduce the basic projects of the university into the course. We encourage our students to participate in the national mathematical modeling contest for college students, the American mathematical modeling contest for college students, the informatics contest, the robotics contest and so on," Wang said.

Experts say strengthening mathematical knowledge in basic education and future industrial applications, while combining mathematics with AI, will help students face the challenges of the AI era.

China transforms education through introduction of AI courses

China transforms education through introduction of AI courses

Cuba has strongly condemned the United States' seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker, with a former Cuban diplomat calling the action illegal and warning it threatens regional energy security as the U.S. escalates pressure on Venezuela.

Carlos Alzugaray, the former Cuban diplomat, said the seizure of the tanker and its cargo violates international law.

"They have seized the ship, the tanker, but they have also seized the oil, they have taken the oil. All the sanctions that the United States has imposed on Venezuela are illegal because they are not based on any decision of an international institution like the Security Council of the United Nations," he said.

U.S. forces last week seized a Venezuelan oil tanker, the Skipper, in the Caribbean, alleging it was part of an "illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations." The U.S. has since intensified its campaign against Venezuela's oil trade.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has ordered a total blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers traveling to and from Venezuela, escalating a months-long pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Trump also said that the Venezuelan government has been designated "a foreign terrorist organization," accusing it of involvement in crimes including terrorism, drug smuggling and human trafficking.

Trump also claimed that Venezuela is "completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America," warning that the pressure would continue until the assets he said had been taken are returned to the United States.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has also denounced the U.S. seizure of Venezuelan oil tanker last week, calling it an act of piracy and maritime terrorism as the U.S. blockade may also impact Cuba, which is experiencing an energy crisis and is heavily dependent on oil imports from Venezuela.

For Cuba, the seizure raises particular concerns. The island is facing a deep energy crisis marked by rolling blackouts and relies heavily on oil imports from Venezuela. Cuban officials fear that expanded U.S. enforcement actions could further disrupt supplies.

The tanker seizure coincides with an expanded U.S. military presence in the Caribbean under "Operation Southern Spear," officially described as a counter-narcotics mission. Cuban authorities argue that the deployment violates a regional declaration designating Latin America and the Caribbean as a "Zone of Peace," and have called for international condemnation of the U.S. actions.

Cuba condemns US seizure of Venezuelan oil tanker amid energy crisis