Advocating a new trend in marriage and love in the new era, Jiangsu issued a guideline for marriage and love education
In an effort to enhance and improve marriage and family counseling education, as well as to empower individuals in creating happy marriages and fulfilling families, a collaborative initiative has recently emerged from seven key departments in Jiangsu Province. This includes the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Civil Affairs, the Provincial Court, the Provincial Civilization Office, and the Provincial Department of Education. They have published the “Jiangsu Province Marriage and Love Education Guidelines” (hereafter referred to as the “Guidelines”).
The Guidelines emphasize a human-centered approach as the foundation of marriage and love education, acknowledging the importance of the public’s role and emotional needs in this area. Its goal is to provide comprehensive, systematic, and scientifically-based marriage and love education that addresses contemporary concerns, promotes positive views on marriage, upholds family virtues, and fosters modern citizens equipped with healthy perspectives on relationships, emotional intelligence, and family responsibilities.
The Guidelines are structured into four main sections, including applicable scope and core concepts. Based on the latest research findings from fields such as marriage studies, psychology, and sociology, the core principles focus on cultivating positive dating perspectives, healthy views on marriage, informed attitudes toward family planning, and ideals for harmonious family life. This comprehensive approach spans essential topics from dating and relationships to marriage, parenting, and family development, with a strong emphasis on shaping attitudes, imparting knowledge, and developing skills. This systematic framework is significant for strengthening and improving marriage and love counseling education, enhancing the scientific and targeted nature of such programs.
To advance high-quality development of marriage and love education in Jiangsu, the Guidelines call for various local and departmental efforts. These include promoting theoretical research on marriage and love education among counseling institutions, social organizations, universities, and research entities, as well as organizing the creation of educational manuals and multimedia resources. There is also a call to nurture and incubate social organizations focused on marriage and family services, and to strengthen the supervision and management of marriage and family counseling agencies. The Guidelines advocate for diversifying funding sources and establishing a multi-channel investment mechanism to support marriage education initiatives, facilitated by a partnership between government leadership and community involvement. Lastly, the initiative seeks to innovate platforms for education and services by exploring the establishment of marriage and love education service stations and studios that provide specialized support in counseling, social integration, and family education.
