Qian Tang

Mr. Qian Tang was born in Beijing, China. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Education from Shanxi University, China in 1976 and then taught at the high school level before moving to Canada for graduate studies. From 1979 to 1985, Mr. Tang studied at the University of Windsor, Canada, and obtained a Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology and a Ph. D. in Biology.

Upon completion of his graduate studies, Mr. Tang worked at the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa, Canada. From 1985 to 1989, he was Second and then First Secretary for Academic/Educational Affairs and responsible for promoting bilateral cooperation between Chinese and Canadian universities.

He subsequently returned to China and worked at the Ministry of Education in Beijing from 1989 to 1992. There he was Director of the Division of Policy, Planning and Coordination in the Department of Vocational and Technical Education and then Assistant Director-General of the Department. In 1992 he became Deputy Director-General of the Bureau of Science and Technology of Shanxi Provincial Government in Xi’an.

In 1993, Mr. Tang joined UNESCO as Senior Programme Specialist with the Section for Technical and Vocational Education, of the Education Sector in Paris.  He became Chief of the Section in 1996 and in 2000, he was appointed as Director of the Division of Secondary, Technical and Vocational Education where he was responsible for the implementation of UNESCO’s programme activities in general secondary education, science/technology education, as well as technical/vocational education.

From July 2001 to June 2005, Mr. Tang was Director of Executive Office for the Education Sector. In July 2005 he became UNESCO’s Deputy Assistant Director-General for Education in charge of the overall coordination of the Education Sector’s strategic planning, programme implementation, finance and human resources management.

Mr. Tang was appointed Assistant Director-General for Education in April 2010.