On September 17, 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a symposium of grassroots representatives in Changsha, Hunan to seek advice on economic and social development in the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. Ten representatives spoke one after another, Pan Jiuren, vice principal of Tashan Yao Ethnic Township Central Primary School, was one of them. He told the General Secretary that the "shortcomings" of education in remote ethnic areas: first, the shortage of teachers and structural lack of staffing; second, the conditions are difficult and good teachers cannot be retained.
"The problems you reflected are very practical." General Secretary Xi Jinping responded, "Yesterday I went to see the first primary school in Wenming Yao Township, Rucheng County. The school has teaching buildings, dormitories and canteens. Nutritional lunch is free. The children are very cheerful, which shows that since the reform and opening up, we have basically solved the problem of popularization of compulsory education, but the problem of imbalanced educational resources has become prominent. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, we must focus on solving this problem and study it carefully."
set off from the urban area of Changning City, Hunan Province at the foot of the mountain. The car drove along the mountain road for more than an hour. I don’t know how many sharp bends and how many steep slopes I climbed. Tashan Yao Township Central Primary School finally appeared in front of me.
"We have high mountains and steep slopes here, and the road is difficult to walk on. It is a place where the wind blows halfway up the mountain." Pan Jiuren, who is strong and dark-skinned, said, while gesturing the trend of the hillside. In 1993, at the age of 17, he followed his father's footsteps and worked for nearly 30 years. This "wind place" has witnessed the persistence of two generations.
Will there be no teacher coming? Can the new teacher stay? In the past, Pan Jiuren was the most nervous whenever school started.
"We are not 'good teachers can't keep them', but 'many teachers can't keep them'." Pan Jiuren sighed. The main sources of school teachers are public-funded normal students and "on-the-job" interns. Once the contract service period arrives, most of them have to go to the city. Two teachers once came to internship. When they saw the school in a remote corner of the mountain, they stayed for one night and left without saying goodbye. "I've been home after asking the phone." Some young teachers have been working for three or four years but have not been able to persevere. "I would rather go to work in other places than teach in the mountains."
2 on-the-job teachers and more than 180 students. This was the most difficult time seven or eight years ago.
makes teachers willing to come and stay, not only relying on feelings, but also improving the treatment and environment as much as possible.
At the Central Primary School of Tashan Yao Ethnic Township, Changning City, Hunan Province, Pan Jiuren tutored students in class (photo taken on November 25, 2021). Xinhua News Agency (photo by Yin Ming)
"In the past two years, we have tried our best to keep the heart of teachers." Pan Jiuren said, "The mountains in Yao Township are poor, and only by studying more can you have a future. If a family can get out of a child, a village will have hope."
In his desk, there is a stack of speech materials, which are all about increasing teachers' allowances in high-altitude mountainous areas, improving the treatment of teachers in township ethnic minority schools, and tilting professional titles to schools in ethnic minority areas and remote rural teaching points... As a member of the Hunan Provincial CPPCC, Pan Jiuren has been conducting research and appealing in the past two years, and many suggestions have been adopted.
At Tashan Yao Ethnic Township Central Primary School, Changning City, Hunan Province, Pan Jiuren is correcting homework (photo taken on September 20, 2020). Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Peng Bin)
When I was taking a walk in the evening, Pan Jiuren often talked to the teachers to pay attention to what difficulties there were. What everyone has most reported is the inconvenience of communication in the mountains and the inability to deliver express delivery.
In the past, there were blind spots in the mountains. In addition, during heavy snow, bamboo fell and pressed the wires, and the phone could not be called and received. With the continued call for and promotion of him and other CPPCC members , six new mobile communication base stations have been built in the village this year. Teachers can use network resources and make video calls with the city. The issue of
express delivery has been listed. "The young teacher has to carry daily necessities from the foot of the mountain every weekend." Pan Jiuren said that only by solving these problems can the teachers feel at ease.
At Tashan Yao Ethnic Township Central Primary School, Changning City, Hunan Province, Pan Jiuren is with the students (photo taken on November 25, 2021). Xinhua News Agency (photo by Yin Ming)
After the symposium of grassroots representatives, he returned to Yao Township with the instructions of the General Secretary. Pan Jiuren felt more energetic. "What I reported to the General Secretary was my thoughts over the years. After that day, I decided that there was hope for the future." Pan Jiuren told reporters, which made him firmly believe that he should cultivate more talents for the mountain villages in Yao Township.
A week before the start of school this fall, Pan Jiuren sat down with the principal and the director of teaching to discuss the faculty issues. He remembered that Pan Wei, a student he taught before, was a public-funded normal school student who graduated from Changsha, and he happened to be able to do her job.
"Follow me to the school to see." After working for the whole day, Pan Jiuren rushed to Pan Wei's house at around 9 pm and solemnly sent an invitation to the students.
The next morning, the sun had just crossed the mountains and the heat had not yet risen. Two "teachers Pan" appeared at the Central Primary School of Tashan Yao Ethnic Township.
As soon as I entered the school gate, Pan Wei noticed the change:
The soil playground used to be "a step by step" on rainy days, and now the ground has been hardened, clean and bright. The "wall" made by the teacher with barbed wire was once ripped into pieces by the children, but now the newly built wall is neat and firm. The newly built teacher dormitory building has a water heater and a flush toilet. There is no need to carry a bucket and take a bath, nor do you have to find someone to dig out a dry toilet.
Walked into the classroom, Pan Jiuren used his hands that cut bamboo and tiled wood to make teaching aids, and skillfully clicked on the touch screen. Pan Wei saw that the cement blackboard was replaced with an electronic whiteboard.
In the classroom of the Central Primary School of Tashan Yao Ethnic Township, Changning City, Hunan Province, Pan Jiuren displays electronic whiteboard (photo taken on July 27, 2022). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Wangmin
"The changes have been very big in the past two years. It has really jumped from 'chaff basket' to 'rice basket'!" When the teacher spoke his hometown dialect, the post-00s girl smiled knowingly.
This summer vacation, the construction team came to renovate the school building and playground, and Pan Jiuren was not idle either. He often rode his motorcycle from home early in the morning and drove over 20 miles of mountain roads to keep an eye on the construction progress and quality.
When school started, the school was painted freshly. Pan Jiuren's heart became more at ease. Panwei, who has walked out of the mountains, "returned" and became a rural teacher in ; in Tashan Yao Ethnic Township Central Primary School, "post-90s" and "post-00s" teachers account for three-quarters, and have full-time music, physical education and aesthetic teachers.
"In the past, a teacher pronounced 'Do Lai Mi Fa Sa' as '12345', and this situation should not happen again." Pan Jiuren said with a smile.
When he looked through the photos of his mobile phone for reporters, he showed rare pride: this year, 20 students in Tashan were admitted to key high schools and could go outside to "advertise"!
In the new semester, the teachers have already arrived, but some teachers have not stayed for various reasons. There is still a long way to go to solve the problem of imbalance in educational resources. In order to ensure that the teacher is "willing to come and stay", Pan Jiuren and his colleagues are still working tirelessly.
The sun sets, and the cool wind blows through the fir forests and the sea of bamboo. The reporter asked Pan Jiuren, how did he understand the profession of rural teachers?
"Students are like their own children." Pan Jiuren thought for a while, and said in a calm and firm tone that we are just a not-so-bright street light, without dazzling light, but we have been trying hard to brighten the children's way forward.
Text reporter: Bai Tiantian, Liu Wangmin
New media editor: Hou Bangxing
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