University expands rural teacher training program

Shanghai Jiao Tong University is expanding its training program for teachers from schools in rural areas, in a bid to help improve the level of local education and benefit more students across China.

The program, which was launched in 2007, now provides training to around 90 teachers from China's underdeveloped central and western areas each year.

Recently, the university established a strategic partnership with the Only Education Group and it plans to expand the program's scale over the next five years so as to allow more teachers from China's rural areas to participate.

Meanwhile, it will establish a long-term tracking mechanism to help adjust the program's content according to feedback received, and there are also plans to invite more experts and scholars to give lectures.

According to the university, the ten-day program covers teaching methods and skills development, experiential training, expert lectures and a local school visit. The program also encourages participants to exchange ideas with teachers from schools in Shanghai, so as to understand more about the development of concepts in education.

So far, the program has helped train 625 teachers from nine provinces and cities, including Yunnan, Sichuan and Qinghai. It covers nearly 500 schools across the country, benefiting more than 100,000 students.