The municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin along with Hebei province have enacted a new plan to promote coordinated development of education from 2023 to 2025, covering areas such as school construction and teacher exchanges.

The plan states that the education authorities of the three areas will promote the coordinated development of basic education in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and continue to carry out exchanges and mutual learning activities among teachers and principals from kindergartens, as well as primary and secondary schools, according to a high-level meeting held on Sunday, which was attended by educational heads and school leaders from the region.

"The education administrative departments of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei will work together to improve the coordination level in the field of education and strive to create a new picture under the guidance of the central government," Li Yi, director of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, said at the meeting.

The plan includes measures to help raise the level of educational facilities in Xiong'an New Area in Hebei province by bringing in resources from Beijing and Tianjin to provide high-quality educational services for the local residents and children of relocated personnel in Xiong'an.

Many well-known schools and educational groups from Beijing have set up branches in Xiong'an in the past few years. These include Zhong Guan Cun No 3 Primary School Education Group, Beijing No 4 High School, Beijing Shijia Hutong Primary School and Beijing Beihai Kindergarten. Many of these schools have started taking in students.

"We have not only built a campus in Xiong'an, but are also bringing in our experienced teachers and experts here to support the development of local education," said Yang Gang, president of Zhong Guan Cun No 3 Primary School Education Group which has built a branch campus in Xiong'an. The new branch school of Zhong Guan Cun No 3 Primary School Education Group welcomed its first group of 183 students in September.

"We will continue to strengthen teacher exchanges and communication between Beijing and Xiong'an to bring advanced educational concepts here for the local children," Yang said.

Currently, 202 primary and secondary schools and kindergartens from Beijing and Tianjin have educational cooperation projects with 273 schools and kindergartens in Hebei. Tsinghua University and Renmin University of China have provided assistance to 10 high schools in Hebei.

According to the plan, both Beijing and Tianjin will send excellent management teams to Xiong'an to strengthen sharing of resources in the education sector.

To promote cross-regional cooperation, the governments of the three areas will establish education groups, school alliances and partnerships to enhance the sharing of educational resources around Beijing, such as in the cities of Zhangjiakou and Chengde in Hebei, to jointly improve regional educational standards, said the plan.

"Hebei has already achieved remarkable results in the coordinated development of education over the past years. Next, we will make efforts on serving Beijing and Tianjin in some sectors," said Dong Zhaowei, vice-governor of Hebei.

Up to 15 vocational colleges in the region have initiated cross-provincial admissions and joint training programs for middle- and high-level vocational education. The three areas have jointly established 16 university alliances.

"Since the majority of graduates of Hebei's vocational colleges have found jobs in Beijing and Tianjin, supporting the development of vocational education in Hebei is a way of helping Beijing and Tianjin to cultivate talents," said Bu Lixin, Party secretary of Chengde College of Applied Technology, during an interview with Beijing Business Today.

"Meanwhile, strengthening the cooperation in vocational education between Hebei and Beijing-Tianjin can also provide more employment and development opportunities for students from Hebei, which is a win-win situation for the three places."