China’s Premier Li Keqiang urges educational equality for China’s rural areas and declares education reforms as a top priority for the country’s development. The statement followed Li’s visit to high school students from Xinjiang Uyger, a remote western China autonomous region, who study in Dalian, Liaoning province, an eastern developed city.
Li visited Dalian No 20 Senior High School, a school that was the first to accept students from the Xinjiang autonomous region. During Li’s visit, teachers shared their arrangement reports and teaching experiences while students shared achievements and personal stories.
After learning that many Xinjiang students were born into poor families, Li said “we should strive to realize education equality and ensure all children receive an education.” Li also encouraged eastern regions rich with educational resources to provide additional support to underdeveloped central and western regions of China.
Li suggested that financial allocations should subsidize the country’s underdeveloped rural regions, well-trained teachers should be encouraged to teach in the underdeveloped areas, and teachers from the remote regions should receive further training from institutions in more developed areas.
According to Lin, educational equality is fundamental in narrowing gaps between urban and rural areas. The recommended efforts will advance China’s educational equality and will improve poverty stricken areas.
Li encouraged the Dalian students saying “Xinjiang is a good place, and its future will be brighter. Knowledge is a kind of super-energy. You should be confident to learn well and lift your hometown out of poverty with your knowledge.”
According to China Daily, the total number of Xinjiang students studying in Dalian No 20 Senior High School has reached 1,663 since Xinjiang and Dalian began their arrangement in 2000. Dalian No 20 supplements students’ educational needs by providing Mandarin and English lessons and exchange activities to support adjustment.
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Written by Rachel Pozivenec