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Chinese Premier Inspects Rural Schools on Eve of Teachers' Day

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 September 2005, 06:00 CDT

Text of article by Xinhua She reporter Shen Lutao entitled: "Premier Wen Jiabao inspects rural primary and secondary schools outside Beijing on eve of Teachers' Day, stresses importance of rural education, praises urban teachers for supporting rural education" by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)

Beijing 9 September: Give Rural Education an Important Place in Overall Education: Premier Wen Jiabao Inspects Rural Primary and Secondary Schools in Beijing Outskirts on Eve of National Teachers' Day, by Xinhua She reporter Shen Lutao

The 21st National Teachers' Day is 10 September this year. On the morning of 9 September, Premier Wen Jiabao, who is also a member of the standing committee of the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] Central Committee's Politburo, and State Councillor Chen Zhili visited a primary school and a secondary school in the Beijing suburb of Tanzhesi. Accompanied by Liu Qi, a member of the Politburo and secretary of the Beijing CCP Committee, and Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan, they called on the teachers and students and conveyed their earnest greetings to the engineers of the human soul, who had been working so hard.

"Without a loving heart, there will be no education"

Bathed in the warm sunshine of a fall morning, Wen Jiabao and his entourage drove through a rugged mountain path and crossed the Western Mountains before arriving at Tanzhesi Centre Primary School in Mentougou district at the foot of the mountains. "Teachers' Day is here and I have come to visit you." Wen Jiabao shook hands with the teachers as soon as he got out of the car, walking and asking detailed questions at the same time about the schools and about the education received by children in the mountain areas.

Following the sound of a student reading aloud, he climbed the steps and came to the room of a Fifth Grade class. A female student was standing up and reading with her youthful voice a chapter entitled "The Walking Stick."

When the children saw Wen Jiabao enter the classroom, they greeted him in unison, "Grandpa Wen, how do you do?"

"Little girl, please tell me a little about the meaning of this chapter," Wen Jiabao asked the student, whose name was Xiao Zhounan, when she finished reading.

"In this chapter, a little girl thought that the writer was handicapped, so the little girl gave up her seat for her, but the writer did not know that. The writer thought the little girl assumed she was pregnant. So she was very puzzled..."

"Very good."

"Children, tomorrow is Teachers' Day. On Teachers' Day, we should first think of the teachers who teach us. We should repay, with practical action, the teachers for their caring about us and teaching us. The lesson you have just studied actually is about the love of the human heart."

"About human beings loving and caring about each other," teacher Zhao Yanling chipped in.

"That's right. Without a loving heart, there will be no education." Wen Jiabao continued, "The most important thing a teacher can give his students is love, and the most important thing students can give their teachers is respect. If a teacher shows his students a little more love, if students show their teacher a little more respect, then the relationship between teachers and students will be most intimate. Today you are in this classroom studying, growing mentally and physically. When you grow up, you will remember your teachers, won't you?"

"Yes!" the students answered

"Is there anything else you want me to say?" Wen Jiabao turned around and asked the teacher. The students burst out laughing and the atmosphere in the classroom instantly became more relaxed.

"I would particularly like you to say something to inspire the students."

"Elementary school is a time when you begin to acquire knowledge. Set goals when you are young, and dedicate yourselves to the service of the nation when you grow up. To set goals and to dedicate yourselves to the service of the nation, you must become useful persons. In other words, you should serve the country and the people by using your abilities, your knowledge, and your labour. So today I have six characters for you: lizhi [set goals], chengcai [become useful persons], and baoguo [dedicate oneself to the service of the nation.]"

After he finished speaking, Wen Jiabao picked up a piece of chalk, mounted the platform, and wrote the six characters on the blackboard.

"Lizhi, chengcai, baoguo," the students read the characters out loud in chorus.

"Learn to use one's hands as well as one's brain

Next Wen Jiabao and his entourage arrived at Tanzhesi Secondary School where they visited a second-grade (junior high) classroom. When he saw the students sitting in groups of four for a mathematics class, Wen Jiabao asked why. The teacher replied, "This is a reformed way of teaching. The idea is to promote classroom discussion."

Wen Jiabao said, "This is a very good approach. It makes the students discover, discuss, and work out issues by themselves. It is more important to identify an issue than to resolve it. If a person is to become a useful person, he must learn to think independently and think creatively. This is an inspirational form of education."

"A student must learn to use his hands as well as his brain from a young age. In the past, education made the mistake of separating the mental from the manual. In the future, we must turn out students who not only are knowledgeable but can also apply their knowledge to solve the world's problems, which is even more important. Towards that end, they must develop the habit of using both hands and brains." He then turned around and said to the teacher, "Spend less time telling the students what to do and spend as much time as possible making them find out things for themselves. That way, students will slowly learn to do research on their own and sharpen their learning skills."

In the physics lab, Wen Jiabao saw the students learning to use the electric current chart. He went up to the students and started chatting with them. He said, "It is so important to use one's hands. You all do quite well in exams, but there is one weakness, which is that you are not very good at using your hands to do things. Have the courage to use your hands and don't be afraid of making mistakes. Come up with ways to do a job. This is the way to develop creativity, which is even more important than acquiring book knowledge."

"I want to make two suggestions"

Starting this year, the city of Beijing each year will select about 1,000 urban teachers for assignment to rural areas to support education there. This is an important measure for strengthening rural education. Wen Jiabao presided over a seminar at Tanzhesi Secondary School where he heard from five representatives of the urban teachers sent to rural schools to support rural education.

After he finished hearing the five representatives, Wen Jiabao said, "You genuinely care about the rural areas and take rural education seriously. You sincerely feel for the rural children. In both your thought and your deeds, you have proven that the practice of sending urban teachers to support rural education is totally correct. Here I would like to make two suggestions.

First, the experience of the city of Beijing in supporting rural education has universal significance. This approach should be replicated nationwide. To build a harmonious society requires a balance between urban education and rural education. To achieve social justice requires that urban and rural children receive education fairly. An important mission of comprehensive urban and rural development and of the building of a harmonious society is to care about rural education and give rural education an important place in education as a whole. Teachers are the key to improving the quality of rural education. Urban teachers are sent to rural schools to support teaching in order to improve the quality of teaching in rural primary schools. That way, the quality of rural education will be improved and urban teachers will also be able to better themselves.

Second, encourage university graduates to teach in primary schools. Huo Maozheng, a special-grade teacher from Beijing, once wrote me a letter with the suggestion that university teachers teach in primary schools, including rural primary schools. This suggestion has enormous significance for upgrading basic education. The Ministry of Education should promote it nationwide to turn it into a trend."

Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

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