01.05 / 2026
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Why is public welfare education essential in modern society? Chen Yueguang, Chairman of the Academic Committee of the Shenzhen International Foundation for Philanthropy, pointed out in the public lecture "Public Welfare Mission and Value Innovation: The Path Choice and Dream of China's Public Welfare Education" that when public welfare actions evolve from traditional individual charity to rationally and organizationally addressing complex social issues, systematic professional education becomes a necessity.
Currently, public welfare education has formed two basic paradigms: "resource - supported education" and "specialized talent cultivation", giving rise to six typical models. In the field of higher - education public welfare professional education, China's practice is almost in sync with the global process, occupying a unique position in global public welfare education innovation.
Chen Yueguang stated that the core mission of public welfare education is to cultivate "value establishment", "citizen responsibility", and awaken the "soul", which is its irreplaceable humanistic foundation. The ultimate dream of China's public welfare education is to train practitioners with deep concern, rational spirit, and excellent action ability, rather than just an increase in the number of institutions or disciplines.
Public welfare education can be defined as an educational and social cause that systematically cultivates professionals in the public welfare field and promotes the development of public welfare undertakings. Traditional charity is based on personal virtue, etc., with knowledge passed down through experience and actions limited to specific areas. Modern public welfare faces complex social system problems, requiring multi - disciplinary knowledge for professional intervention and emphasizing professional capabilities, thus calling for systematic professional education.
General public welfare education practices mainly fall into two paradigms: one is resource - supported education, such as the "Hope Project", universities cooperating to establish colleges, and social forces running schools; the other is specialized talent cultivation, such as open micro - academies, in - university colleges, and independent public welfare colleges. The development of international professional public welfare higher education started about two or three decades apart from China's exploration, and in this emerging field of public welfare education, China and the world are almost in sync.
Traditional charity was regarded as a universal moral cultivation and did not require specialized education. There is a difference in concepts between "public welfare" and "charity". Modern public welfare takes conscious citizens as the main body and aims at a better society, organizing to solve systemic social problems, thus requiring specialized talents.
In the era of artificial intelligence, the essence of education is being re - examined. Knowledge transmission may be replaced by technology, but public welfare education can make in - depth efforts in "understanding the connotation of life" and "regulating willful behavior". The mission of public welfare education is based on an in - depth understanding of social needs, cultural structures, and human motivations.
The apparent dream of China's public welfare education is the vigorous development of public welfare universities, a complete discipline system, etc. However, the essential dream is to promise to the future and cultivate generations of practitioners and innovators with deep concern, rational spirit, and action ability for history.
