Chinese schools have been required to strengthen patriotic education and carry out patriotic campaigns using more innovative methods such as the new media, according to an official document issued in January, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
 
The document, issued by the Party leadership group of the Ministry of Education, requires Chinese primary schools, middle schools and universities to incorporate patriotic education closely into the design of curriculum, textbooks and exams of required courses such as ethics, Chinese language, history, geography, P.E. and arts lessons.

Universities, especially, are urged to deepen their research into the importance of patriotism using the Marxist and socialist theories. The research should point out the harm caused by refuting the history of the Party, the People’s Republic of China, China’s revolution and reform and opening up, and vilifying revolutionary heroes.


Schools are also asked to use more innovative methods for patriotic campaigns, such as new media platforms like microblogging site Weibo and messaging app Wechat. 
 
This is the latest effort by China’s education authorities in recent years to strengthen ideological education in China’s schools. Last January, for example, Education Minister Yuan Guiren at a forum urged universities to reinforce their ideological teaching, especially when it relates to textbooks, teaching materials and class lectures. 
 
In a speech last December, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for promoting patriotism to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the Xinhua reported.
 
Xi said the Communist Party of China is the steadiest advocate and practitioner of patriotism, calling for making patriotism an eternal theme in education, according to Xinhua.