Art helps children learn, appreciate the world better

Every child needs planned aesthetic education to enhance their ability to experience and enjoy the beautiful things in today's world, said experts at the Dongqianhu Education Forum on Saturday.

While education has multiple tasks, art education can focus child on fostering love for the nature and learning the world better, said Long Yongtu, former secretary-general of the Boao Forum for Asia.

More people should be encouraged to engage in art education, said Xu Lixun, founder of the forum. Xu is also chairman of Huamao Group based in Ningbo. Last year, an art museum opened in Ningbo to give people access to the iconic building and its galleries. Xu said it was another way to expose temporary exhibitions among Chinese.

"Aesthetic education, embracing art in all its diversity, is an essential component of a comprehensive education," said Irina Bokova, former director-general of UNESCO. "Research shows that involvement in arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking and verbal skills," she added.

Professionals gathered online highlighted art education while talking about understanding of it. Some even cited themselves as an example of how they fell in love with art and how art affected them in their career.

Art education can help people earn a living, but the value of art goes far beyond helping children develop their skills with painting or sculpture. It can help them develop life skills for their future, said Pu Cunxin, chairman of the Chinese Dramatists Association.

Former prime minister of Greece George Papandreou said through video link that aesthetic education is a difficult and permanent task, art education could help people be creative and sociable. It can give people ability to interpret events and experiences that are new or unpredictable with creative ideas and full feelings.

The forum held for the second year was livestreamed with ten millions of views online. It had a full media coverage with 28 million page views, according to the organizers.