On March 5, during the group meeting of CPPCC members from the education sector, Lan Zhen, Party secretary of Zhangzhou Experimental Primary School, in Zhangzhou, a city in Southeast China's Fujian Province, carried several colorful cards into the session. On the cards were wishes written by students of Aojiao Primary School, in Zhangzhou's Dongshan County.
"Children care about national affairs," Lan told the meeting. "I have the obligation, and responsibility, to bring their voices to the meeting. I will also convey political advisors' suggestions to teachers and students back home."
Lan, who has been teaching for more than 30 years, remains committed to promoting rural education. To cultivate excellent rural teachers, she established Lan Zhen Excellent Teacher Studio, in 2013, and she implemented the Rural Seed Teacher Training Program, which has benefited tens of thousands of teachers and students. Lan, a frontline educator, has served as a volunteer teacher in other rural schools for nearly 10 years.
Lan proposed strengthening the ranks of teachers working in the countryside. "Only when rural teachers have strength, will rural children experience better development," she says.
Lan suggested establishing rural educator training bases, in normal colleges and universities, to provide customized, professional courses with local characteristics. She also called for the strengthening of educational exchanges and cooperation between different regions of China, and for the integration of online and offline education resources.
"Teachers shoulder great responsibilities when educating people. For the hope of education, and for the dreams of children, I am willing to devote my life to the development of education," Lan says.
Photo from Interviewee
(Women οf China)
Editor: Wang Shasha
