Beijing, China, 18 January 2018 - The UNESCO International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education (INRULED) convened a consultation meeting on Development Strategy. Given guidance and future direction by Mr. Du Yue, Secretary-General of Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, and Miss Yu Xiaoping, Director of Division of Education, the meeting formed in-depth discussions on how to better align the Centre’s strategic plan with the national strategies and serve the needs of member countries. Experts such as Prof. Zhou Zuoyu, Vice President of Beijing Normal University (BNU), Prof. Zhu Xudong, Dean of Faculty of Education, and heads of relevant departments were also engaged it the meeting as BNU is one of the host organisations.

A discussion among participants at the consultation meeting, Beijing, China

At the meeting, INRULED reported on its development and progress in 2017, especially after the Board Meeting, and its vision for 2018. The participating leaders acknowledged the achievements in 2017 and gave constructive suggestions for the Centre’s future development.

Prof. Zhou Zuoyu fully recognised the work INRULED has achieved in the past few years. He also pointed out that the Centre should put forward the Chinese model from its perspective, share the Chinese experience, and situate and upgrade China's position in the international discourse as we are working in the complex and changing world full of new challenges and opportunities.

Mr. Du Yue analysed the opportunities and challenges INRULED might encounter in the future from many aspects. He suggested that the Centre should put effort in recruiting and making good use of talents around the world, bring its comparative advantage into a full play, strive to be a leader in the area of international rural education, and formulate international agenda with its research achievements.

At the end of the meeting, Prof. Huang Ronghuai, Director of INRULED, extended sincere gratitude to every participant, and pointed out that the opinions and suggestions raised in the meeting would be carefully sorted out and incorporated into the Centre's medium-term plan as soon as possible.