Mei Bing, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), is Secretary of the Party (Communist Party of China) Committee of East China Normal University, in east China's Shanghai Municipality. During this year's Two Sessions, Mei made proposals on enhancing family education, leveraging the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in family education, and accelerating the high-quality development of digitalization on education. "AI is developing rapidly, and it is boosting the development of various sectors. We face both challenges and opportunities as we work to apply AI in education," says Mei.

The Family Education Promotion Law of the People's Republic of China took effect in January 2022. Implementation of the law signaled family education had evolved from a "family issue" to a "national issue." Mei believes promoting mutual growth among parents and their children is a prominent feature of family education in the new era. She suggests further promotion of the law and cultivating a social atmosphere where family education is valued.

"The rapid development of AI is reshaping the model of family education. Young parents are good at using new-media platforms and digital and intelligent devices, and we should make full use of this feature. We should advance the innovative application of AI in family education, and we should develop a new model of family education, under which families, schools and society work together, and education resources are open and shared among all parties," suggests Mei.

Mei believes AI education should start from childhood. There are various approaches to this end; for instance, cultivating teachers' AI literacy, and encouraging parents to learn AI-related knowledge and skills, so parents can grow together with their children and adapt to the trends in the new era.

Mei also suggests developing an "AI assistant" for family education, to provide targeted, personalized services. East China Normal University has already developed a family education training system. This system helps parents enhance their family education capabilities, through interactive learning and training.

Photos from Interviewee

(Women of China)

Editor: Cui Rui