China's professional teaching workforce continues to grow

BEIJING, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- China is witnessing a surge in the number of professional teachers as the country moves to build itself into a leading country in education by 2035.

Today, it is home to nearly 19 million full-time teachers, doubling that of 1985. Among them, the number of full-time higher education faculty members with doctoral degrees has rocketed to over 625,000, an increase of nearly 450 times compared to some 40 years ago.

Highlighting education as a basic and strategic underpinning for Chinese modernization, the country spares no effort to develop a high-quality professional teaching workforce to support the world's largest education system.

Honoring teachers and valuing education have been traditions in China since ancient times. The widely known proverb, which can be roughly translated as "A day as a teacher, a lifetime as a father," and the commonly seen statues of Confucius, who is regarded as a paragon of teaching, on university campuses all serve as testaments to the enduring values of honoring educators in Chinese culture.

As early as 1985, the country reaffirmed its long-standing tradition by designating Sept. 10 as Teachers' Day.

Ahead of this significant occasion's 40th anniversary, which falls on Tuesday this year, 1,790 individuals and 585 groups and institutions received national honors for their outstanding contributions to developing China's education at a grand ceremony in Beijing.

Over the years, persistent and intensified initiatives have been launched to garner public support for teachers, enhance their skills, and improve their welfare.

A prime example is a tuition exemption for students who study to become teachers. In 2007, Chinese authorities rolled out the policy exempting the undergraduate tuition fee of normal students of six universities affiliated with the Ministry of Education (MOE).

Since then, more than 90 percent of the students who benefitted from this policy have joined China's teaching workforce and greatly enhanced the country's basic education.

Statistics showed that from 2012 to 2023, the number of full-time teachers with bachelor's degrees or above in primary and junior high schools grew by 41.9 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

In June this year, the policy was revised to give normal students free postgraduate school education. An official with the MOE said the revision will help address the demand for high-quality teachers stemming from the reform and development of basic education and can promote educational equity and quality improvement.

In addition to increasing the number of teachers, the Chinese government also strived to ensure the balanced and equitable development of the teaching workforce.

In 2006, China initiated a program to recruit teachers to work in underdeveloped rural areas to facilitate compulsory education development.

According to official statistics, the program has supplied over 30,000 rural schools in central and western regions with more than 1.15 million teachers.

The number will continue to grow as the country plans to include approximately 37,000 new teachers for deployment in schools in these areas in 2024, according to the MOE.

In addition, the country prioritizes training primary and junior high school teachers in needy regions, such as border regions, rural regions, and ethnic minority areas.

Yu Weiyue, an MOE official in charge of teacher-related affairs, said that the country would facilitate more targeted training of these teachers and enhance the cultivation of teachers of minor subjects, such as music, physical education and art.

China has also introduced regulations and formulated plans to guarantee the welfare of its expanding professional teaching workforce and uphold the dignity of the teaching profession.

A set of guidelines on strengthening the teaching workforce unveiled on Aug. 26 this year demands that the average salary of teachers in compulsory education be no lower than that of local civil servants.

"In four decades, the social status and remuneration of teachers have been elevated considerably," said Li Yongzhi, head of China National Academy of Educational Sciences. He noted that teachers not only saw their salary increase but also received numerous honors, such as national model teachers and national outstanding teachers.

The country has also vowed to make teaching one of the most respectable and admirable occupations in China by 2035, according to the document released last month.

With the guidelines' release and implementation, all teachers will surely provide greater support to building a country strong in education in the new era, said Li.