Recently, the Ministry of Education deployed the promotion of the "101 programme" for basic disciplines in Beijing.

After the 985 and 211 project, the "101 programme" has once again entered the field of higher education with an unstoppable momentum.

      Figure | Promotion Meeting for the "101 Programme" Work of Basic Disciplines Series and Exchange Meeting 

  on the Achievements of the "101 Plan" in Computer Science was held in Beijing.

The Genesis

Throughout history, China has implemented the basic principle of "concentrating efforts to accomplish great things" in higher education.

When it comes to good universities, everyone will inevitably think of "985" and "211”, which are key projects aimed at promoting the construction of first-class universities and disciplines.

In 2019, the Ministry of Education has designated key construction projects such as the "211 Project" and "985 Project" as "Double First Class" construction.

In 2021, the Ministry of Education decided to implement the pilot work plan for teaching reform in undergraduate education in the field of computer science in some universities, known as the "101 Programme".

  The "101 Programme" will be divided into two phases: the first phase of the pilot programme is based on the 33 colleges and universities that have built bases for the training of outstanding students in basic computer science disciplines. The second phase will be a step-by-step promotion of the programme in universities and colleges nationwide. It is expected to serve as a benchmark for other academic disciplines. 

On the basis of the exploration of computer science, the "101 Programme" has now been extended to nine fields, including mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, basic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, economics and philosophy.

The Training

Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, China's higher education has made unprecedented progress and has cultivated a large number of outstanding talents. However, on the whole, China's higher education is characterised by "high mean" and "small variance", the average level of students' knowledge and skills mastery is high, but there are relatively few top-notch talents. Thus, reflected in the field of scientific and technological innovation, when focusing on the "0 to 1" breakthroughs, it will be found that the major original discoveries and original theories put forward by Chinese scientists are still far from enough.

  The "101 Programme" aims to solve the "big problems" of talent cultivation through "small entry point" in basic elements such as curricula, teaching materials, teachers and practical projects, as well as to lead the reform of higher education to achieve a "strong breakthrough". In order to build a solid foundation for the cultivation of top innovative talents. 

The Ministry of Education coordinates and brings together the resources of top universities, top teachers and top publishers to drive the reform of the education and teaching system with the construction of basic elements such as curricula, teaching materials, teachers and practice programmes. The focus of the "101" programme is to promote the construction of four "first-class": first-class core courses, first-class core teaching materials, first-class core teachers and first-class core practical projects.

The Selection

"We are holding up the best teachers in the field, doing a good job of teaching materials and working together to improve curriculum construction, with the ultimate goal of trying to improve the quality of teaching across the country." Hu Zhenjiang, "101 plan" working group leader in computing field, Dean of School of Computer Science in Peking University said. 

Practice has proved that the construction of the pilot project of the "101 Programme" has achieved important milestones. 

At present, more than 80 top domestic and foreign experts with more than 50 academicians have deeply participated, which will promote the overall teaching level of more basic disciplines through the incidence of demonstration.

In addition to Peking University, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University and other former 985 project colleges and universities, some of the former 211 project colleges and universities with distinctive features have also been strongly selected as the first pilot list.

The convening of the meeting for promoting the work has clarified the direction and sounded the horn of progress for further promoting the "101 programme".

In the future, in addition to the current nine major fields, the Ministry of Education will also pilot and promote in batches to more basic disciplines as well as to urgently needed and scarce areas to transform the talent training model from "knowledge first" to "ability first". Thus, it can cultivate a group of top-notch talents who can decide the outcome of battling in the world in the future and make contributions to China's establishment as a world important talent center and innovation highland.