Functions
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　　The Ministry of Education is a central government agency under the State Council, responsible for China’s educational undertakings and language work.

　　The Ministry of Education’s main missions are as follows:

　　1.To investigate and put forward the guiding principles and policies for China’s educational undertakings, and to draft relevant rules and regulations.

　　2.To investigate and put forward strategies of educational reform and development and master plans for China’s educational development; to formulate the policy of educational structural reform as well as the emphases, structure and speed of educational development, and to direct and coordinate the implementation of this work.

　　3.To manage educational funds, take part in formulating guidelines and policies of fund-raising, financial allocation and capital construction for educational purpose. To monitor educational funds raising and the expenditure for educational purposes across the country; to manage in accordance with relevant regulations educational aids and loans from abroad.

　　4.To investigate and put forward the establishment standard, basic teaching requirements and basic teaching documents for secondary and primary schools; to organize the examination and approval of unified teaching materials for secondary and primary schools; to direct the pedagogical reform of secondary education and types of education lower than that level, and to organize the supervision and evaluation of the implementation of 9-year compulsory schooling and the eradication of illiteracy among young and middle-aged adults.

　　5.To manage regular higher education, postgraduate education, tertiary vocational education and adult higher education, higher education offered by social forces, as well as the state-administered examinations for self-taught adult learners seeking tertiary qualifications and continuing education. To investigate and put forward the standards for establishing higher education institutions, to examine and verify the establishment, rename, abolishment and adjustment of higher education institutions; to formulate the discipline catalogue and basic teaching documents; to direct the pedagogical reform of higher education institutions and the evaluation of higher education; to undertake the implementation and coordination of the Project 211.

　　6.To plan and direct the educational work for the minority nationalities, and to coordinate the educational aids to the minority areas.

　　7.To plan and direct the work on the construction of CPC in institutions of higher learning and the work of ideology and politics education, moral, physical, health, arts, and national defense education in schools of different levels.

　　8.To administer teachers'work, to formulate and supervise the implementation of the professional qualifications for teachers of different levels; to work out the organizational standards for schools of different levels; to make overall plans for the team construction of teachers and administrative staff for schools.

　　9.To make plans and manage the students recruitment work for higher education institutions of different levels; to be responsible for the management of student registration for higher education institutions of different levels; to manage in line with its responsibility the reform of graduates job-finding work for higher education institutions, to put forward relevant policies, and to organize the implementation of this work.

　　10.To plan and direct the research work of higher education institutions in natural science, philosophy and social science; to undertake macro-instruction on higher education institutions in the application, research and popularization of new hi-technology, in the transform of scientific and research achievements and in the efforts of combining industry, teaching and research; to coordinate and supervise higher education institutions in the implementation of state key scientific and research programs and national-defense scientific-tackling programs; to direct the development and construction of national key laboratories and research centers for national projects.

　　11.To manage, coordinate and direct educational foreign affairs, to formulate guidelines and policies for Chinese students studying abroad and international students studying in China; to plan, coordinate and direct the work of teaching Chinese as a foreign language; to direct the work of Chinese educational institutions abroad. To be responsible for coordinating the educational cooperation and exchanges with Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and Taiwan district.

　　12.To be responsible for collecting, analyzing and releasing basic educational information.

　　13.To formulate guidelines and policies of national language work; to compile medium and long term layout for language work; to formulate the standard and criterion for Chinese and minor nationalities’ languages and to coordinate and supervise the implementation of this work; to direct the popularization and testing of Mandarin.

　　14.To undertake overall plan on the conferral of academic degrees, and to draft relevant regulations; to be responsible for the implementation of the academic degrees conferral system; to be responsible for the work of international equity on same academic degrees, mutual recognition of academic degrees and so on; to carry out the work assigned by the Academic Degree Committee of the State Council.

　　15.To be responsible for the coordination between the National Commission of P. R. China for UNESCO and UNESCO itself for cooperation and exchanges in education, science, technology, culture and other sectors; to be responsible for keeping in touch and exchanging with the head office, Asia-pacific office and Beijing office of UNESO; to be responsible for connecting with Chinese permanent delegation to UNESO and to supervise its work.

　　16.To carry out the work assigned by the State Steering Committee of S&T and Education.

　　17.To carry out other work assigned by the State Council.