| 1. |
To formulate guidelines and policies on the reform and development for education undertakings; to draft related laws, regulations, provisions and policies, and supervise their implementation. |
| 2. |
To be responsible for making overall plans, coordinating and administrating education institutions; to put forward the establishment standards for all schools jointly with other agencies; to direct the pedagogical reform, and to collect, analyze, and release basic educational information. |
| 3. |
To be responsible for promoting balance development of 9-year compulsory education and promoting educational equity; to conduct macro guidance on compulsory education, guide the work of common senior middle education, preschool education and special education. To formulate the basic requirements and basic teaching documents for primary and secondary schools; to organize the review and approval of national teaching materials for compulsory education. |
| 4. |
To guide the supervisory work of China’s educational undertake. Take charge of organizing and guiding mid-level or below mid-level educations, and to organize the supervision and evaluation of the eradication of illiteracy among young and middle-aged adults; to direct the monitory work of base education development level and quality. |
| 5. |
To guide the development and reform of vocational education taking the employment as the orientation; to compile the specialty catalogues and teaching guideline documents for mid-level vocational education, and to enact pedagogical appraisal standards and guide their implementation; to guide teaching material building and vocational guidance for the mid-level vocational education. |
| 6. |
To guide the development and reform of higher education, and in charge of promoting the reform of the management system of institutions of national universities; to formulate the specialty catalogue and basic teaching documents for higher education, to examine and verity the establishment, renaming, abolishment and adjustment of colleges and universities with relevant government departments, and undertake the implementation and coordination of the Project 211 and Project 985. To plan and direct higher education and continuing education, and the evaluation of higher education. |
| 7. |
To manage educational funds as a whole, take part in the formulation of guidelines and policies with regard to fund-raising, fund allocation and capital construction investment of educational purposes; to monitor educational fund applications across the country. |
| 8. |
To plan and direct the educational work for the minority nationalities, and to coordinate the educational assistance to the minority areas. |
| 9. |
To plan and direct the work of ideology and political education, morals, physical training, health, arts, and national defense education in schools of different categories and levels; to direct the work on the building of CPC organizations and stability in institutions of higher learning. |
| 10. |
To administer nationwide teachers' work, to formulate and supervise the implementation of the professional qualifications for teachers of different categories and levels with relevant government departments; to make overall plans for the building of the forces of teachers and administrative staff for schools. |
| 11. |
To manage the students’ recruitment work and responsible for the management of student registration for various colleges and universities; to make plans for recruiting students for institutions of higher learning, participate in the formulation of universities and colleges graduate employment policy, guide the graduate employment and carver out of colleges and universities with relevant government departments. |
| 12. |
To plan and direct the research work of colleges and universities in natural science, philosophy and social sciences; to coordinate and guide the implement work of colleges and universities participating the development of a state innovation system and the implementation of state key scientific research programs; to guide the development and construction of colleges and universities technological innovation platform; to guide the work of the informationization of the education institution, the combination and innovation of “production, teaching and research”. |
| 13. |
To organize and guide international exchanges and cooperation in respect of education; to formulate policies for Chinese students studying abroad, international students studying in China, Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools and enrolling children of foreign personnel; to plan, coordinate and guide the work of teaching Chinese as a foreign language; to be responsible for coordinating the educational cooperation and exchanges with Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and Taiwan region. |
| 14. |
To formulate guidelines and policies of nationwide work on languages and words; to compile mid-term and long-term programs for work on language and words; to formulate the norms and standards for Chinese language and minority nationality languages and organize their coordination, supervision and inspection; and, to guide the popularization and tests of Putonghua (Chinese). |
| 15. |
To be responsible for the conferral of academic degrees; to be responsible for the implementation of academic degree conferral system; to be responsible for the work of international equal treatment and mutual recognition of academic degrees. |
| 16. |
To be responsible for the coordination of relevant departments and institutions in the cooperation and exchanges with UNESCO in respect of education, science, technology, culture and other sectors; to be responsible for the liaison and exchanges with the head office and other relevant departments. |
| 17. |
To undertake other assignments designated by the State Council. |
