College students who receive free education in return for committing to teaching have become favorites of schools for their good academic performance.

"All our students who enjoy free education receive more lessons than other students, to make them better-qualified and improve grassroots education," said Zhao Fuchen, director in charge of student internships at Hebei Normal University.

In addition to studying regular courses in their majors, these students take extra classes, including handwriting, writing and other necessary skills for rural schools, which may call upon them to teach a large number of classes.

Jiang Shan, a junior student majoring in English at the university, said he learned a lot from the extra courses, including help to make his blackboard writing clear and elegant.

"Some other students quite admire our lessons," he said.

The free education program for college students started in 2007, as a way to provide schooling access for students from impoverished families. Hebei Normal University in Shijiazhuang has accepted 200 students annually under the free program since 2011, waiving their tuition and providing an extra 300 yuan per month to cover their living expenses.

"But that does not mean we take only family conditions into consideration," Zhao said, "Their willing and academic performance are major factors as well.

"Those who fail to meet the requirements will be required to quit the program," Zhao said, "We have set up a strict system to keep quality high, making it work for the improvement of rural education."

Other universities have also implemented tough measures for the program, making such students popular candidates for schools to recruit at recent job fairs in many provinces. Luo Han, the principal of Shuiguohu No 1 Middle School in Wuhan, Hubei province, keeps three to five positions every year for such students. "They are responsible and proactive, performing quite well," he said at a fair on Jan 9, Hubei Daily reported.

According to a report by the Ministry of Education, only 39 percent of the first batch of 10,597 graduates of the program in 2011 signed contracts past their two-year commitment to schools in counties and villages, meaning more than half chose to work in cities after that.

The regulations on free education for college students who want to be teachers state they must sign working contracts with their provincial governments, promising they will return home after graduation to work at middle or primary schools for 10 years.

While it also stipulates they should work at rural schools for the first two years, they can then choose to stay in a rural area or work in a city.

"The free education for normal college students is far from enough to bring teachers to rural schools," said Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher with the National Institute of Education Sciences.

He said the compulsory rules only work to foster teachers, but have little influence on keeping them working in rural areas for years.

"Policies on providing good pay, living standards and promotion chances matter more," he said, "The governments should, at first, increase the allocation for rural schools, making sure the teachers can live on their salaries."

(China Daily USA?02/05/2014 page5)