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Expensive training

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-12 07:31

Given the current shortage of educational resources, it is a huge waste of public money to send rural teachers abroad for training programs says an article in Workers' Daily. An excerpt follows:

It is reported that 23 outstanding rural teachers in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, were recently sent on a one-month training program to Singapore. The local education authorities spent 20 million yuan ($2.94 million) last year on arranging different training programs for 11,769 primary and middle school teachers.

It is indeed very necessary to train rural teachers given that the move will not only improve their teaching levels and experiences but will also help expand their vision.

It is undeniable that the Singapore trip did help add to the knowledge and experience of these teachers. But such a target could be achieved through accepting more direct and concrete training courses offered by domestic normal universities with a much cheaper budget. Such "go-abroad" training models not only deviate from the program's original aim, but also serve as a drain on the already insufficient public education spending.

At a time when training programs are still out of reach of the overwhelming majority of the country's rural teachers, relevant authorities should use limited public resources in a more pragmatic manner when similar moves are taken in the future.

(China Daily 01/12/2009 page4)