China will build, upgrade and expand an additional 1,000 high-quality regular high schools and more in a sweeping effort to address critical shortages in secondary education capacity, the Ministry of Education announced Tuesday.
This large-scale infrastructure push comes as rising student populations strain existing facilities nationwide, particularly in fast-growing urban areas and under-served regions.
China has rolled out an ambitious five-year education reform plan aimed at standardizing all compulsory education schools, and significantly upgrading secondary education infrastructure.
The country is implementing the "County High School Revitalization Program" to significantly enhance basic teaching facilities and overall educational quality at ordinary high schools in county-level regions.
China will implement balanced enrollment planning between regular high schools and vocational secondary schools. While accelerating the expansion of admission quotas for quality high schools, quotas will be allocated to junior secondary schools primarily on the basis of student population within the region, with priority given to schools in rural areas.
In the higher education sector, China will make good use of central budget investment and ultra-long-term special treasury bonds to support universities in continuously improving their educational conditions.
"China will promote the allocation of new higher education resources to the central and western provinces with large populations. We will support the layout of new research universities and high-level Sino-foreign cooperative education. Colleges and universities will be steered to improve the adjustment mechanism of disciplines and majors in line with the needs of economic and social development, strengthen industry and enterprise practice training, and enhance students' employment and entrepreneurship capabilities," said Guo Peng, director of the Department of Development Planning, Ministry of Education.
China to expand high-quality basic education with over 1,000 new, upgraded high schools
Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Italy and Greece on Saturday to protest against U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, with protesters in Rome, Milan and Athens condemning Washington's actions and calling for respect for Venezuelan sovereignty.
In Rome, more than 1,000 demonstrators marched toward the area near the U.S. Embassy, calling on Washington to immediately release Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
Police blocked roads around the embassy to prevent protesters from approaching the building, but demonstrators continued to denounce U.S. actions.
"First of all, we oppose U.S. imperialist aggression. This kind of behavior is shameful. The U.S. is attacking a sovereign country, and as [U.S. President Donald] Trump himself has said, this is for oil interests," said protester Giovanni Barbera.
Saturday's rally marked the second large-scale protest in Rome this month against U.S. military operations in Venezuela, following an earlier one on on Jan 3.
Participants included members of multiple political parties, labor unions and social organizations. The protesters held banners reading "Stop imperialist interference" and "Free Maduro," urging the international community to respect Venezuela's sovereignty and the will of its people, and condemning the U.S. for violating international law.
"We are protesting the way the U.S. handles international politics. Since the events of January 3, we have seen violations of international law, and we are very concerned about how the global situation is developing," said protester Stefano De Angelis.
Organizers said solidarity rallies in support of Venezuela were held in 30 Italian cities on the same day.
Meanwhile, similar protests were also staged in Greece. About 200 people gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Athens, voicing support for Venezuela and opposition to U.S. military actions.
"We oppose U.S. imperialism and its attack on Venezuela. At the same time, the U.S. is also threatening Cuba, Mexico and Greenland. We must stand up against this behavior," said Greek protester Argiro Sirmakezi.
Protesters rally in Italy, Greece against U.S. military operation in Venezuela
