Sun Xiaolei: Persist in a Problem-Oriented Approach to Comprehensively Promote the Integrated Reform of Systems and Mechanisms for Education, Science and Technology, and Talent
Coordinately advancing the integrated reform of systems and mechanisms for education, science and technology, and talent is a global, holistic, and forward-looking strategic deployment aimed at continuously molding new momentum for economic and social development and strengthening the support of human resources for modernization. It also serves as a practical path for implementing the Strategy for Invigorating the Country through Science and Education, the Strategy on Developing a Quality Workforce, and the Innovation-Driven Development Strategy.
Upholding a scientific worldview and methodology is our "master key" [1] for researching and resolving problems. To coordinately advance the integrated reform of systems and mechanisms for education, science and technology, and talent, we must adhere to a problem-oriented approach, remain people-centered, and uphold a systems command. We must continuously enhance the systematic, holistic, and synergistic nature of reform, achieving a transformation from localized exploration to systemic integration. At the level of systems and mechanisms, we must mold new modes of combining education, science and technology, and talent that correspond to the requirements of high-quality development.
Upholding a Problem-Oriented Approach to Grasp the Main Thread of Reform
The era is a spatio-temporal collection unfolding with the contradictory movement of human society's ever-changing modes of production as its internal measure; it objectively stipulates the core problems that social reform must resolve. Every era has its own problems. Upholding a problem-oriented approach requires us to deeply grasp the laws and characteristics of reform by recognizing and analyzing problems. We must dialectically unify the current state of practice with future visions, scientifically plan reform ideas, and correctly grasp the main thread of reform while maintaining the initiative in development, striving to improve the forward-looking and predictive nature of reform.
Coordinately advancing the integrated reform of systems and mechanisms for education, science and technology, and talent constitutes a profound insight into the essence and laws of innovation, as well as an objective requirement for advancing Chinese-path modernization. In today's world, if a country or a nation is to gain the initiative, gain an advantage, and win the future, it cannot do without the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent. China has completed in several decades a development process that took Western developed countries several centuries; a critically important reason for this is that our Party, since embarking on modernization, has attached great importance to establishing and perfecting the systems and mechanisms for education, science and technology, and talent.
Currently, the relationship between scientific research and technical application is becoming increasingly close: the conversion cycle between industry, academia, and research is shortening. Strategic emerging industries and future industries [2] no longer follow the old path dominated by investment and factor inputs; instead, they rely on industrialized innovation to nurture and form new growth points. Traditional systems and mechanisms find it difficult to adapt to the actual needs of high-quality development. Only by accelerating the construction of high-level integrated systems and mechanisms for education, science and technology, and talent, and by optimizing the allocation of productive factors, can we ensure that various high-quality productive factors flow fully toward the development of new quality productive forces. This process will cultivate high-quality laborers sufficient to support the needs of changing modes of production, rely on scientific and technological progress to improve labor efficiency and drive socio-economic development, and realize a virtuous cycle between education, science and technology, and talent.
To promote the integrated reform of systems and mechanisms in these three areas, we must seize upon "pain points" and "bottlenecks" [3] in management service mechanisms, resource allocation mechanisms, talent evaluation mechanisms, and income distribution mechanisms to achieve breakthroughs and innovation. Through unified deployment and unified advancement, we can form the systemic integration effect of reform. We must improve management service mechanisms, breaking down the scattered and fragmented boundaries between the development of education, science and technology, and talent to establish a management service system that is full of vitality, efficient, and conducive to high-quality development. We must improve resource allocation mechanisms, scientifically allocating resources, utilizing them effectively, and enhancing their efficacy. We must improve talent evaluation mechanisms, scientifically setting evaluation standards, optimizing evaluation processes, strengthening the application of evaluation results, and perfecting the evaluation system. We must improve income distribution mechanisms, establishing and improving mechanisms for productive factors—such as labor, knowledge, technology, management, and data—to participate in distribution based on their contributions. We must implement distribution methods oriented toward increasing the value of knowledge and perfect market-based specialized salary distribution mechanisms.
Remaining People-Centered to Clarify the Direction of Reform
The people are the creators of history and the primary force driving reform and opening up. In the magnificent process of reform, our Party has always remained people-centered, respecting the principal status of the people, giving play to the pioneering spirit of the masses, and relying closely on the people to promote reform. To discuss reform apart from the people or to conduct reform detached from the people's livelihood would be like "water without a source or a tree without roots" [4]; it would be difficult to form a collective consensus or a universal synergy. In coordinately advancing the integrated reform of systems and mechanisms for education, science and technology, and talent, the primary task is to resolve the people’s most direct and realistic interests of greatest concern, ensuring that the integrated systems and mechanisms better revolve around the needs of development and respond to the aspirations of the people.
In essence, coordinately advancing this integrated reform means closely combining education, science and technology, and talent during high-quality development to serve people, human reproduction, and the goals of human development. On one hand, we must uphold the position of putting the people first during the reform process. The well-rounded development of the individual is the starting point and the ultimate goal of high-quality development. We must integrate the promotion of well-rounded human development into all fields of education, science and technology, and talent cultivation. This must run through every link of the systems and mechanisms and be designed around the goal of well-rounded development; any practices unfavorable to achieving this goal must be resolutely corrected.
On the other hand, the focus of this integrated reform lies in high-quality talent. Education, science and technology, and talent belong to different fields, but in essence, the core of both scientific and technological innovation and high-quality education is high-quality talent. We must use economic structural reform as a "lever" [5] to promote the optimization and activation of various resources including education, science and technology, and talent, eliminating relevant systemic and institutional maladies. Furthermore, the focus of deepening comprehensive educational reform lies in implementing the fundamental task of "fostering virtue through education" [6], serving the development of the Party and state undertakings, and soulving the "urgent, difficult, and anxious" problems of the people. Deepening the reform of the science and technology system must adhere to the "Four Orientations" [7] and promote the systematization, institutionalization, and coordination of talent teams. Deepening the reform of the system and mechanisms for talent development requires implementing more proactive and open talent policies, perfecting the independent talent cultivation system, and creating an environment that recognizes, loves, respects, and utilizes talent.
Upholding a Systems Concept to Drive the Implementation of Reform
Marxism holds that universal connections exist between things; they are not isolated existences but stand in a relationship of mutual influence and mutual restraint. To coordinately advance the integrated reform of systems and mechanisms for education, science and technology, and talent, we must uphold a systems concept to ensure they depend on, support, and complement each other in practice, forming a systemic and organic "living entity" to comprehensively advance Chinese-path modernization through high-quality development.
Strengthening forward-looking thinking. We must recognize both that the integration of education, science and technology, and talent is a developing and changing historical process, and that future industries are key fields for China to adapt to the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation and to win strategic initiative in international competition. We must serve the generational changes in technological innovation and industrial transformation, firmly grasping the dynamic evolution characteristics of technological innovation cycles, and lead the construction of a forward-looking layout for systemic reform with breakthroughs in new technologies.
Strengthening holistic planning. Currently, there remains a gap compared to developed countries in our large-scale advancement of critical technological innovation and the cultivation and utilization of world-class talent. We must grasp key priorities, take the initiative to understand and think about problems from a global and strategic height, strengthen top-level design, and promote the alignment of resources and policies in the same direction to form a synergy.
Strengthening holistic advancement. We must leverage the Party's leadership advantage in "overseeing the whole situation and coordinating all parties." On the basis of refining strategic goals and action plans, we must implement systemic planning into daily reform work. We must continuously improve coordination mechanisms and supporting laws and regulations at the national level to ensure the continuity and stability of reform, making timely evaluations and adjustments based on environmental changes. We must establish effective assessment and accountability mechanisms to ensure the effective use of resources and the smooth advancement of policies.
(Author: Sun Xiaolei, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Microelectronics, Fudan University)
Source: Guangming Daily (January 7, 2025, Page 15)