In one location, 10,099 classrooms had their eye-protection lighting replaced in 2022.

On January 20, 2022, the CPC Zibo Municipal Committee held a press conference: Zibo City took the lead in the province by formulating and issuing the "Action Plan for Building High-Quality Livelihoods to Promote Common Prosperity (2022–2024)". This Action Plan focuses on creating a city of excellent education that satisfies the people, implementing a three-year campaign to improve educational quality, and has identified 7 aspects with 27 specific measures.

On February 22 of the same year, the first session of the 16th People's Congress of Zibo City voted to determine the major livelihood projects for Zibo City in 2022. "Caring for students' physical and mental health, implementing a standardization project for classroom lighting, desks and chairs, and exercise books, and continuously improving the visual environment for students" was prominently included.

"A faint yellow light shines down, close to natural light, bright yet soft, with no glare at all. It turns out that these two rows of 'new recruits' above our heads are here to protect our eyes. Our teacher told us that this is a student-specific eye-protection lamp designed to safeguard our vision, allowing us to study more comfortably and effectively with greater focus." said Wang Yixuan, a student from Beimenli Primary School in Zhoucun District, Zibo City.

To fulfill this beautiful promise, Zibo has worked tirelessly for three years!

In the implementation of the project to standardize classroom lighting, desks and chairs, and exercise books across the entire city, there have been both high moments of riding the wind and breaking through ten thousand waves, as well as difficult obstacles filled with thorns and rushing rapids. Standing at the end of 2022, looking back on the journey traveled, it has been a turbulent and magnificent path; those unforgettable days and nights remain vivid as if yesterday, evoking a multitude of emotions.

In response to General Secretary Xi Jinping's call for "all sectors of society to take action to jointly protect children's eyes and ensure they have a bright future," on August 30, 2018, the Ministry of Education and seven other departments jointly issued the "Notice on the Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Prevention and Control of Myopia in Children and Adolescents" (Jiao Ti Yi [2018] No. 3). It clearly stated that by 2023, efforts should be made to reduce the overall myopia rate among children and adolescents nationwide by at least 0.5 percentage points annually compared to 2018 levels, and by at least 1 percentage point annually in provinces with high myopia prevalence. This marks that addressing the issue of preventing and controlling myopia in children and adolescents has been elevated to the national level and entered into central decision-making and deployment.

Ride the wind and break the waves, cleave through thorns

On April 22, 2019, the Shandong Provincial Department of Education and eight other departments jointly issued the "Notice on Promoting the Comprehensive Prevention and Control Plan for Myopia among Children and Adolescents in Shandong Province" (Lu Jiao Ti Fa [2019] No. 1), proposing that "all cities should earnestly implement national requirements, striving to reduce the overall myopia rate among children and adolescents by more than 0.5 percentage points annually compared to 2018 levels by 2023, and effectively achieve the goals set forth in the Notice." It also required that before 2023, all counties (cities, districts) across the province must designate institutions responsible for myopia prevention and control among children and adolescents, establish demonstration bases; achieve a 100% coverage rate for health record establishment for children and adolescents province-wide; and ensure a 100% awareness rate of myopia prevention knowledge among students, teachers, and parents.

On June 4, 2020, the Zibo Education Bureau and seven other departments jointly issued the "Zibo City Comprehensive Prevention and Control Plan for Myopia in Children and Adolescents" (Zibo Education Document No. [2020] 39); the following day, a deployment meeting on myopia prevention and control for children and adolescents in Zibo City was held to comprehensively deploy the city's comprehensive prevention and control plan for myopia in children and adolescents.

Sun Yingtao, Executive Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee Education Working Committee and Party Secretary and Director of the Municipal Education Bureau, believes that visual environment is the material foundation for improving students' eye health.

Based on this, Zibo City took the lead in the province to propose and implement a plan to upgrade classroom lighting in primary and secondary schools to meet standards, comprehensively optimizing school conditions. This includes improving lighting and daylighting in classrooms, desks and chairs, multimedia teaching equipment, and other facilities to protect students' vision. Among them, Zhangdian District and Huantai County were included by the Ministry of Education in the "National List for Promoting Experiences and Practices in Myopia Prevention and Control for Children and Adolescents" for their work in perfecting the myopia prevention and control mechanism system, formulating implementation plans, clarifying prevention tasks, and investing funds to improve the teaching environment. This signals that our city's comprehensive prevention and control plan for children and adolescents' myopia has achieved an early victory.

Strive endlessly, forge ahead with renewed vigor

On April 26, 2022, the General Office of the Zibo Municipal Party Committee and the General Office of the Municipal Government issued the "Notice on Coordinating the Promotion of High-Quality Livelihood Construction and Improvement of Public Satisfaction" (Zibo Ban Fa Dian [2022] No. 27, Zibo Ji Fa No. 117). A Command Headquarters for High-Quality Livelihood Construction and Public Satisfaction Improvement was established in Zibo City, with the Party Secretary and Mayor serving as Chief Commander, the Chairman of the Municipal People's Congress as Executive Chief Commander, and a Vice Mayor in charge as Deputy Chief Commander. The Command Headquarters Office is stationed at the Municipal People's Congress. The Municipal Education Bureau selected key personnel to form a special task force for high-quality livelihood construction. Consequently, the city-wide implementation of the project to standardize classroom lighting, desks and chairs, and exercise books has been fully launched.

A series of work tasks have advanced in depth, thanks to the establishment of supervision, inspection, assessment, and reward-and-punishment systems, creating a favorable work pattern characterized by strong coordination, smooth collaboration, timely communication, and a sound mechanism.

Clarify objectives and solidify responsibilities; this is a crucial guarantee for project advancement. Incorporate the implementation of school classroom lighting, desk-and-chair, and exercise book standardization projects into the municipal government's education duty supervision and assessment system, as well as the high-quality development performance assessment indicators for municipal-level units, and list them as key livelihood projects for the city.

Improving the work operation mechanism is a crucial support for project advancement. The "Notice on Establishing a Work Promotion Mechanism for the City-wide School Classroom Lighting, Desks and Chairs, and Exercise Books Standardization Project" was issued. We adhere to systems including regular scheduling, regular reporting, funding guarantees, supervision and inspection, and assessment rewards and penalties. We systematically planned and scientifically formulated the implementation plan and progress ledger for the standardization project of classroom lighting, desks and chairs, and exercise books, implementing map-based operations and number-elimination management.

Compiling the "Standards" and "Manuals" is a crucial vehicle for advancing engineering projects. The "Zibo City Standard for Equipping Ordinary Primary and Secondary Schools" and the "Zibo City School Classroom Lighting Compliance Engineering Guidance Manual" clearly define the main content and technical requirements for local standards in primary and secondary schools across the city, providing scientific guidance for the design, renovation, and acceptance of classroom lighting facilities in primary and secondary schools.

Strengthen publicity and create a positive atmosphere; this is a crucial boost for project advancement. Implementing the school classroom lighting, desk-and-chair, and exercise book compliance project as the primary pathway to serve the people and enhance public satisfaction, we will increase information disclosure efforts by establishing an information disclosure platform and utilizing newspapers, television, and online channels to promptly publish relevant plans, work progress, and other updates to the public, thereby accepting social supervision and fostering a favorable social atmosphere.

It is reported that in 2022, the project to standardize classroom lighting, desks and chairs, and exercise books was implemented in schools. A total of 10,099 classrooms in primary and secondary schools across the city have been equipped with eye-protection lamps; 298,224 sets of adjustable desks and chairs have been provided for 336 primary and secondary schools; 428 schools have switched to anti-myopia exercise books, with a cumulative investment of 102.1963 million yuan.

To date, Zibo City has completed the project to standardize classroom lighting, desks and chairs, and exercise books in schools one year ahead of the national and provincial plans.

Source: Zibo Education Bureau