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

Displaced Palestinians in Egypt expressed hope of reuniting with loved ones after news of the Rafah border reopening, with the chance to reunite with family stirring both hope and painful memories of the war that tore them apart.

Egyptian authorities said tens of thousands of Palestinians have registered for two-way travel through the Rafah border crossing, though the permitted number of daily trips remains unknown.

Nearly a year has passed since Omar Zerib and his wife Hanin escaped the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. Now settled in Al Arish, Egypt, Omar remembers with vivid clarity the day the onslaught began.

"I used to own a piece of land, that's where I worked from morning to night. On the morning of Oct 7, when we arrived at the land, we could see rockets flying everywhere. My neighbor was shot dead about 100 meters from where I was standing. His family were all martyred. I collected their remains myself to bury them," he said.

In May 2025, the couple got approval to accompany Zerib's critically ill parents for treatment to Egypt, leaving behind several family members.

"Contacting our relatives in Gaza is extremely difficult. It's nearly impossible because of internet and phone disruptions. Maybe every 10 to 15 days we would be able to contact," Zerib said.

Seeking treatment in Egypt, kidney patient Yasser Mahmoud longs for his sister to join him from Gaza once the border reopens. The war has already taken his son, a loss that shadows his family's flight from home.

"My son was martyred, my house was destroyed, the future of my children is unknown. All that we had been building is suddenly gone. In a minute. Everything just went away," he said.

For Mahmoud, the border offers a chance to reunite with his sister and children in Egypt. For Zerib, it is a path back to Gaza, where he dreams of rebuilding the life that was torn apart.

Displaced Palestinians eager to reunite with families amid Rafah border reopening