One hundred local teachers, including the first kindergarten teachers, set out yesterday to work as volunteers in the country's underdeveloped Yunnan Province and quake-hit Dujiangyan City in Sichuan Province for one year.
The group is the eighth party sent from Shanghai to Yunnan. The teachers will attend 19 middle schools in seven rural counties, namely, Honghe, Wenshan, Pu'er, Diqing, Lincang, Lijiang and Xishuangbanna. Two teachers are volunteering for a second time.
"To each teacher, life in Yunnan will surely be a rewarding experience," said Lin Chang from Yuying School in Qingpu District. "We will bring our new concept, methods, information and experience to Yunnan, endeavoring to improve the province's educational development."
Under the program, 761 teachers have been sent by the city to give classes to native students and help native teachers in Yunnan since 2000.
The 60 teachers heading to Dujiangyan will attend 58 elementary and middle schools in 19 towns.
They are the first batch of volunteer teachers sent to the city. The Shanghai Education Commission will send a further 60 teachers each year during the three-year support to quake-hit Dujiangyan.
"Of the teachers, 82 percent teach major subjects like Chinese, math and English," said Li Junxiu, vice director of Shanghai Education Commission. "What's special is that two kindergarten teachers are sent for the first time as volunteers to support the local preschool education." During the next three years, 600 teachers from Dujiangyan's elementary and middle schools will also be trained in Shanghai.
Hot monthly
