Chinese officials from the city level should give political science lectures to university students at least once every semester, authorities said Wednesday.
Officials are required to submit their lecture and teaching materials to local publicity departments two weeks before the lecture, and authorities will conduct a survey following the lecture, according to guidelines jointly issued by the Ministry of Education and the publicity and organization departments of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Officials will be touching on socialism with Chinese characteristics and the Chinese Dream as well as key speeches of President Xi Jinping, the guidelines said. It also require officials to respond to the concerns of students and faculty "both on theory and in practice," and help students distinguish right from wrong in terms of ideology and political theory.
All university students across China should attend these lectures at least once every semester.
The lectures are part of the Party's mass campaign and could "help bridge the gap and build trust between students and the Party, and help students stay focused on their socialist goals and social responsibilities," the guidelines added.
It could also help improve the image of officials, according to the guidelines, especially on officials at the provincial level.
Apart from lectures, officials are also encouraged to organize forums or seminars in schools.
Chinese universities have been urged to strengthen ideological education and champion Marxism, traditional culture, socialist core values and the Chinese Dream since January, while Xi said in a speech in August 2013 that colleges should be turned into the breeding grounds of Marxist studies.
Education Minister Yuan Guiren told at a meeting on college education in January that no textbooks that espouse Western values should be allowed to enter the classroom. He also asked college officials to have more oversight over textbooks and materials directly taken from Western countries, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
