China and the United States kicked off a training program for
the country's rural teachers on Tuesday in Chengdu, capital of
southwestern Sichuan Province.
The first group of 500 rural teachers were from Yunnan Province, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Shaanxi Province, Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality, all in the country's
west.
They will undergo a two-week-long training program at the
Sichuan Normal University in Chengdu.
The program, jointly sponsored by the US coffee giant Starbucks
and the China Soong Ching-ling Foundation (SCLF), mainly focuses on
training for primary school teachers in remote, impoverished and
mountainous areas in western China, providing them with up-to-date
teaching skills and techniques, said Li Ning, secretary-general of
the SCLF.
"Rural teachers in China's west have few opportunities to update
their knowledge or pursue further education. In some areas, there
are no chances of this kind at all," Li said.
Therefore, the SCLF had expanded its educational welfare
projects from hardware investment to improving teaching methods and
techniques, he said.
According to Dr. Eden Woon, vice president of Starbucks Greater
China, the company will donate US$1 million to the program in the
hope of training 3,000 teachers in the poverty-stricken western
areas in the next four years.
In addition, 300 schools in central and west China will be
provided with books, computers, teaching tools and upgraded sports
facilities, he said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 26, 2006)