Q&A: Should China increase the salaries of teachers in rural areas and provide them with further professional support so rural kids can receive a better education?
Xie Heping, president of Sichuan University
Editor's note: During the two sessions, China Daily has collected questions from foreign netizens on what they care most about and solicited answers from experts, CPPCC National Committee members and NPC deputies.
Should China increase the salaries of teachers in rural areas and provide them with further professional support so rural kids can receive a better education?
I worked as a rural teacher in Shuangfeng county, Hunan province, after leaving high school in 1975, so I have good understanding of rural education. A major problem is the imbalance in village teachers' abilities and professionalism－and that is largely due to their low incomes.
Although the law stipulates that teachers' salaries should be the same as, or higher than, civil servants' salaries, this just isn't the case in many village schools. Just look at the reality: Hundreds or even thousands of people regularly compete for just one civil servant job, but few want to be village teachers.
If we gave rural teachers the same treatment as civil servants, things would be totally different. The job would become truly respected and would attract more applicants, thereby raising the standard of rural teachers.
