Teachers on front line of change
Print Edition
Late at night, Yang Liu was still checking students鈥 homework in his dorm. During the busiest days, he has to prepare 24 lessons a week. Although his home is less than an hour鈥檚 drive, he hasn鈥檛 been there for weeks.
鈥淚 have taught math, music and many other subjects throughout the years, and teachers in rural schools almost always have to teach that many subjects,鈥 said Yang, 30.
Yang works in Gongyi primary school, more than 50 kilometers away from the county seat of Xiji in Guyuan City, northwest China鈥檚 Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. It is the last remaining impoverished county in Ningxia.
Education has been an effective way to shake off poverty for generations in China, but the shortage of teachers has always been a stumbling block. To mitigate the dearth of rural teachers and promote a balanced allocation of education resources between rural and urban areas, China launched the Special Teaching Post Project in 2006.
Under this project, college graduates are recruited to teach in rural primary and middle schools in the countryside.
According to the Ministry of Education, 950,000 college graduates were recruited to teach in more than 30,000 rural schools across the country in the past 15 years. Their average age is 25, and more than 80 percent have bachelor鈥檚 degrees.
Xiji currently has 1,957 STPP teachers, accounting for 38 percent of the total teachers in the county.
鈥淭he project has not only addressed the problem of teacher shortage but also helped increase the number of teachers for subjects such as music, physical education and art,鈥 said Guo Huaibao, an official with the local education and sports bureau.
Yang Liu majored in music at Ningxia Normal University, and in 2017, he became the first professional music teacher in Gongyi primary school鈥檚 history, thanks to the STPP project.
Under Yang鈥檚 guidance, the school choir won first place in a county-level competition last year, with judges saying that it was 鈥渁 real choir鈥 rather than just a group of kids singing together.
鈥淚t really touched my heart when these kids gathered around me, jumping and screaming with joy,鈥 he said. 鈥淩ecognition means a lot for rural children, and I鈥檓 happy it comes from music.鈥
Ma Xuefen, 25, was among the rural students taught by the first batch of STPP teachers, and after graduation, he joined the project as well. 鈥淚 felt so lucky when the STPP teachers taught us about the outside world,鈥 said Ma recalling his childhood days. 鈥淭hey not only imparted knowledge but also broadened our horizon.鈥
Ma now teaches Chinese in Ganchenzi central school in Shaogang Township of Ningxia鈥檚 Qingtongxia City.
To help improve students鈥 reading and speaking abilities, she makes one student tell a story in front of the rest before every class.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 exactly what rural children need,鈥 Ma said.
This spring term, her class ranked first among the city鈥檚 rural schools in terms of the average scores in the Chinese subject.
Governments at various levels adopted a raft of measures to help improve the living conditions of the STPP teachers.
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