On May 22, the General Offices of the Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development jointly issued the Minimum Requirements for Basic Schooling Conditions in Primary and Secondary Schools. This document outlines 20 essential standards that all regular primary and secondary schools nationwide must meet across five key areas: school building construction, safety precautions, provision of living facilities, teaching equipment, and staffing of educators. The aim is to ensure full compliance across all schools within three years. Notably, these 20 criteria represent an upgraded version of the standards set under the 2014 “Comprehensive Improvement of Under-resourced Schools” initiative; they now serve as the national baseline for school operations, with smaller schools and teaching sites allowed to follow them as a reference.
These specific requirements cover various aspects: regarding safety, schools must implement closed management systems, install one-touch alarm devices and anti-collision barriers at entrances, and deploy surveillance cameras in critical zones; concerning buildings, all Grade D structurally unsafe structures must be demolished or sealed off, while Grade C ones may be used only after passing reinforcement assessments; for teaching resources, schools must provide basic digital infrastructure, subject-specific labs, counseling rooms, music and art classrooms, and libraries stocked with sufficient books. Sports grounds must accommodate mandatory class hours plus at least one type of ball game among football, basketball, volleyball, or table tennis. Boarding schools additionally need to offer compliant cafeterias, dormitory beds, and sanitary facilities. To guarantee accountability, the Ministry of Education will maintain a detailed checklist tracking each school’s adherence to every criterion, adopt tailored improvement plans per institution, and incorporate compliance status into ongoing monitoring mechanisms—ensuring full transparency and verifiability of progress toward the three-year objective.