Teachers share their knowledge in Tibet
Fifty five teachers from Shanghai set off yesterday for Shigatse, in Tibet Autonomous Region, as part of an ongoing program to bolster education there.
The teachers include 40 involved in a Shanghai-based program launched in 2016 to send teachers annual to Tibet, where they will be based in the Shigatse-Shanghai Experimental School.
The other 15 are part of a national program announced in December to aid educational development in Tibet. These teachers will be based at the Shigatse No.2 Vocational School.
Peng Chunhui, a physics teacher at Shanghai New Bridge Middle School, said he served in a similar program in 2012 which sent him to Zepu County, Kashgar Prefecture, in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. There he shared his teaching experience with local educators through demonstration classes, lectures and research.
“It touches me that, even now, some of the Xinjiang teachers are grateful to us, saying they were inspired by a word, a class or even a homework-assessment demonstration from us; and that the program benefited local children,” he said. “So when I saw a recruitment notification to aid teachers in Tibet, I told myself I should do something for Tibetan children, too.”
But while the program offers the chance for Shanghai teachers to share their knowledge, it also means spending up to a year away from family and familiar surroundings.
Xu Xin, a chemistry teacher at Shanghai Songjiang No.2 High School, said he will miss seeing his 6-year-old daughter start primary school in September. Nevertheless, he says the chance to help Tibetan children is worth the sacrifice.
Shu Yinji, a teacher at the School Affiliated to Jinyuan Senior High School, said his father was diagnosed with liver cancer last year and will be hospitalized later.
“But my family encouraged me to go to Tibet because it’s a meaningful experience,” he said. “They can endure the hardships, even though I am absent.”
Hu Xiaoguang, another teacher from Putuo District, said he had to ask his parents living in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, to help his wife look after their 18-month-old son while he is away in Tibet.
Over the past two years, 74 Shanghai teachers have worked in Shigatse; and their efforts seem to be paying off.
Last year, all high school students at the Shigatse Shanghai Experimental School obtained college-entrance exam scores that met the threshold for university admission.
