MOE plans 30,000 more specialized football schools by 2025

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has announced its plans to develop campus football at a press conference held by the ministry on Feb 1. 

As the As the Chinese legal newspaper The Mirror reported, the MOE plans to introduce a new football education curriculum into more than 30,000 primary and middle schools by 2025. Meanwhile, 50 new football training academies will also be rolled out around China in 2018. 

In 2015, the MOE had planned that 20,000 primary and middle schools would have a football education curriculum by 2020 but as the China Education Daily reported, the MOE achieved their goal by the end of 2017 (20,218 in total) with the ministry adding that 6,837 schools had become specialised football schools in 2017. 

With their 2020 objectives reached earlier than planned, the MOE has set out new goals for the next 3 years with the target of establishing 30,000 more specialised schools in China by 2025. Meanwhile, the MOE will also provide a series of football training videos containing 360 different coaching activities to these schools. 

Apart from developing football education curriculums in primary and middle schools, ‍‍The Mirror a‍‍lso reported that MOE has plans to open 50 football training academies around China. 

In fact, the MOE has already kicked off their pilot projects for these football training academies in 2017. In the future, a group of experienced coaches will be sent to these training camps to deliver high-quality training courses and programs to students who  attend these extracurricular classes. 

To ensure the 20,218 specialised football schools operate effectively, the MOE will audit these schools training programmes on a regular basis. The Mirror have also reported that the ministry will encourage every provincial authority to compile a 3-year development scheme for their local campus football programmes. 

Source: The Mirror

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick