Free flow of teachers advised to solve shortage in rural China

Xinhua  13:22, March 09, 2016

Liu Changming, a member of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, answers questions at a press conference on the development of people's livelihood in Beijing, capital of China, March 9, 2016. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)

BEIJING, March 9 -- China should train a batch of freely flowing education workers in order to solve teaching staff shortage for left-behind children in rural areas, a political advisor said on Wednesday.

The country should establish an education talent market with a batch of free education workers for a balanced education development, said Liu Changming, member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee which is convening its annual session in Beijing.

Rural children, including left-behind ones whose parents migrate to cities for jobs, are a "rich ore" with enormous potential for human resources development, said Liu, headmaster of Beijing No. 4 Middle School, an elite school.

The government can solve the shortage of rural teachers by purchasing education services from the market, he said.

According to the country's 13th Five-Year Plan, a state-level quality education resource platform will be set up with government investment.

China has about 60 million left-behind children in rural areas. Despite improvement in recent years, the rural-urban gap remains rather wide in education.