Innovative policies adding value to time in school across the country
Print Edition
Primary school students in China鈥檚 remote mountainous areas are enjoying better education thanks to the country鈥檚 supportive policies in recent years.
Zhang Zhanliang is not only a principal but also a 鈥渃ook.鈥
In 2018, Zhang was appointed the principal of the Huangni Primary School in the village of Huangni, east China鈥檚 Jiangxi Province. The school has just over 20 students.
There was no canteen and many students had to bring lunch boxes as they lived far from school. Meals often became cold.
To let students have hot meals, Zhang decided to make lunch himself on the playground.
鈥淚 was afraid of rainy days because we could not cook if it rained,鈥 he said. 鈥淢y biggest wish at the time was to have a kitchen.鈥
Zhang鈥檚 dream was realized in 2019 after the local education department allocated a special fund of over 200,000 yuan (US$30,000) to build a kitchen. Gas stoves and ovens donated by companies were also sent to the 38-square-meter kitchen.
So far, the local education department has given more than 200,000 yuan to the school to cover meals.
鈥淟unchtime is one of the happiest times of the day for students,鈥 said Zhang.
Statistics from the Ministry of Education show China鈥檚 total investment in education including free meals and improving school facilities has increased by more than 8 percent annually in the past three years.
As the new semester began in September, students in the Third Wanquan Primary School in Lanping County, deep inside a valley in southwest Yunnan Province, had a special class.
About 50 grade-three students had their first online class on folk arts, taught by a teacher from a Beijing elementary school, thousands of kilometers away.
After the bell rang, students sang a local song to greet their teacher in Beijing. 鈥淚t never occurred to me that a teacher in Beijing could teach us,鈥 said He Shujie, a grade-three student.
The online class epitomizes the digitalization of educational infrastructure in China.
An extension of learning
In 2019, there were 11.4 computers for every 100 students in primary schools, and 68.7 percent of these schools had Internet access.
Ahead of classes every morning, Geng Qin, a teacher in the Yukakbzichi Primary School, disinfects every corner of the classroom and prepares masks to be handed out to students.
The school, in the city of Aksu, the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, suspended classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before the school reopened in September, teachers called every student to inquire about their health. The school also prepared sufficient epidemic prevention materials to ensure the safety of students after classes resumed. 鈥淲e will never let a child drop out of school because of the epidemic, and will do our best to ensure their safety at this hard time,鈥 said headmaster Wang Le.
Extracurricular activities are emphasized as part of the curriculum at the Fanjia Primary School in the city of Guangyuan in southwest China鈥檚 Sichuan Province.
Planting vegetables and visiting cultural relics ... teachers lead 55 students, most of whom are left-behind children or from impoverished households, to learn something new outside the classroom every Wednesday.
On a plot of farmland in front of the school, several 鈥渁utomatic drip irrigation devices鈥 mad by students from plastic containers are being used.
Extracurricular activities, as an extension of classroom learning can better shape students鈥 personality and improve their ability to analyze and solve problems, said principal Zhang Pingyuan.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
