Star Project to improve education in remote regions

The public welfare Star Project is expected to expand its coverage to reach more remote and underdeveloped areas in China by working with partners in different fields to benefit more teachers and students.

Initiated by the Organizing Committee of the Global English Education China Assembly, the project aims to provide training for English teachers in county-level areas by enhancing their professional skills and promoting the high-quality and balanced development of education.

Liu Tingting, an English teacher from Guiyang No 7 Middle School in Guizhou province, said the Star Project has benefited teachers and students in rural areas over the years.

According to Liu, the project is committed to providing teachers with richer training and development opportunities, enhancing their educational philosophy and ensuring they can adapt to the needs of current education reform and sustainable development.

The project actively encourages teachers to engage in teaching innovation and practical exploration, opening up broader horizons for their professional growth, she said.

"For students, the project is committed to providing them with higher quality educational resources and learning environments, ensuring that every student has the opportunity to enjoy a more equitable and excellent foreign language education," she said.

Liu, a Star Project award winner, said the award has greatly enhanced her confidence and provided her with abundant learning resources and valuable opportunities, allowing her to participate in academic exchanges, practical projects and related activities.

"These experiences have not only broadened my horizons, but also deepened my understanding of the history and development trends of foreign language education," she said.

"The Star Project award is not only a recognition of my career, but also a motivation and encouragement for me to continue work in the future. And this honor has also inspired my strong sense of responsibility and mission, making me cherish learning opportunities even more and constantly pursue excellence and self-improvement," she said.

"I hope to gradually narrow the gap in foreign language education between Guizhou, a less-developed region in China, and developed provinces through the unremitting efforts of foreign language teachers, and ultimately achieve integration with international foreign language education," she added.

Liu was in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, to participate in the 2024 Global English Education China Assembly, which took place from Friday to Sunday. The event was organized by China Daily, Beijing Normal University and Shanghai International Studies University.

Peng Lun, secretary-general of the organizing committee of the 2024 Global English Education China Assembly, said, "We will also strengthen the construction of online training platforms, allowing teachers to receive high-quality training anytime and anywhere, and improve their teaching level."

"Through these measures, we hope to further promote educational equity and help more children achieve their dreams," she said.

According to Peng, the Star Project has organized 12 online public welfare training courses and one offline event in the past year.

Four teachers have won awards, and more than 100,000 teachers have benefited from the project, she said.

Peng said experts agree that the biggest challenge facing English education and promotion in China is the significant regional differences, with large disparities in educational resources between urban and rural areas, as well as between the eastern, central and western regions, resulting in relatively low levels of English education in some remote and underdeveloped areas.

The quantity and quality of English teachers still cannot meet the demand, especially in remote and underdeveloped areas, where many schools find it difficult to recruit teachers with high-level teaching abilities, she added.