The annual work report of the Supreme People's Court was released at the 2nd plenary meeting of the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress on Tuesday. 

According to the report, the authorities will ensure the enforcement of the Family Education Promotion Law so as to enable all parents better fulfill their responsibilities in accordance with the law.

Notably, the law came into force on Jan. 1, 2022. The first of its kind in China, it marks how the raising of children has become the business of both parents and the country, which signifies a new stage of family education.

Parents are children's first teachers. They are thereby supposed to be the responsible party for the upbringing of minors and children's education at home. In order to better fulfill their duties, parents need to follow scientific methods. However, not all parents or guardians know how to best carry out family education. As such, the law will provide guidance to enable them to raise their children properly. Moreover, it will also facilitate parents or guardians to seek the support of the government, enterprises, and social organizations.

Parents are becoming stressed and anxious about their children's education, with some of them applying too much academic pressure. In response to this problem, the new law makes it clear that the priority of family education is to ensure the physical and mental health of minors. The law also outlines scientific measures in detail to help parents improve the parent-child relationship, including spending more time with their children, giving full play to the roles of both parents, respecting children's character, and communicating with their children on an equal basis.

The extremely inadequate number of professionals and qualified working staff in the family education sector also poses difficulties for the parents in need to get help. Given this problem, the law says it will encourage more universities to carry out relevant research on family education and launch specialized courses to build family education disciplines. It also encourages relevant authorities to make arrangements for training programs and the recruitment of professionals to bridge the gap, as well as guarantee parents access to professional family education services so as to ensure the enforcement of the law in practice and improve its efficiency. Moreover, organizations designated by local governments are also encouraged to provide guidance services to parents in communities and schools. 

Education needs long-term efforts, and family education is no exception. Authorities at all levels, families, schools, and the whole of society need to synergize their efforts to establish a coordinated family education system where parents play a major role with support from the state, schools, and social organizations. Ultimately, this will hopefully ensure the implementation of the Family Education Promotion Law and help children grow healthily.

Xie Bo is a professor with Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

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