Starting in the autumn semester, primary and middle schools across Beijing will introduce general education on artificial intelligence, with at least eight class hours per academic year, according to a document released recently by the Beijing Education Commission.

The commission issued the 2025 edition of the Curriculum Outline for Artificial Intelligence Education in Primary and Secondary Schools in Beijing (Trial) on its website at the end of June.

The curriculum will focus on three areas: AI awareness and cognitive abilities, AI applications and innovation capabilities, as well as ethics and social responsibility related to AI. The initiative aims to guide students from a basic understanding of AI to using it judiciously while helping them develop problem-solving skills and innovative thinking.

Skills related to AI applications will also be included in students' comprehensive assessments.

Schools will have flexibility to offer stand-alone AI courses or integrate them into information technology, general technology, science, integrated practical activities, labor and other subjects, according to the outline. Emphasis should be placed on integrated design to avoid redundancy and overlap, it noted.

Li Yuxin, principal of Beijing Bright Horizon Foreign Language Primary School in Chaoyang district, said the school has devoted efforts to AI education research through practice in recent years.

"We expect that under the new guidance, an integrated AI educational innovation scenario from primary schools to middle schools could be built, which will better help the education sector seize the opportunities brought by the AI technological reforms," Li said.

Zheng Qinhua, a professor at the Faculty of Education at Beijing Normal University, noted that many so-called "AI programming courses" for primary and middle school students that are widely popular in the market do not fully align with the cultivation goals of general AI education.

"Under the new outline, I expect that we can boost elementary students' enthusiasm and focus on their experience in AI applications, steadily building their awareness of AI," Zheng said. "In junior high school, we can focus on building students' understanding of AI technologies and theories while strengthening their basic application abilities. For senior high school students, we should emphasize their capacity for innovation and creative practices, as well as their understanding of AI's strategic role in the country's development."