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August 13, 2016

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Home » Feature » Education

Rewarding experiences for students in volunteer programs

By Yang Meiping | August 13, 2016, Saturday | Print Edition

AS universities are attaching more and more importance to social experiences, some students established meaningful, long-term programs to enrich their experiences. Shanghai Jiao Tong University boasts two excellent programs.

Rural teacher training

This program provides summer training for teachers from impoverished rural areas. It was launched in 2007 by Siyuan Charity Club, run by students of the School of Agriculture and Biology, who came from the countryside and wished to change the backwardness of their hometowns and other rural areas.

They realized after making a survey in a Fushun Town in Sichuan Province in 2006 that the roots of poverty lie in poor education. So they decided to provide training to rural teachers through a charity program.

The idea drew support from an overseas Chinese, Tang Heqian, who went with the club members to Fushun the next year and provided training to 35 rural teachers in 10 days. All the training was done by graduate students from Jiao Tong University.

The program expanded in 2008 with 50 teachers in Fushun receiving training despite a massive earthquake that hit the western part of Sichuan and rocked the town as well.

With support from the Shanghai Charity Foundation, the training program was moved to the university in 2012 and experienced professors and educators took over the training. Rural teachers not only study teaching methods but also learn first-aid and self-development skills. They visit Shanghai schools for exchange with local teachers.

Now, the program trains 90 teachers from underdeveloped areas in central and western China every year. A total of 625 teachers from Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces, Chongqing Municipality and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have benefited from the program.

All trainers and helpers work for free. The 10-day training costs 1,250 yuan (US$188) per person to cover travel and living expenses. The Only Education Group has just signed a contract to fund the program for next five years.

Zhu Jian, deputy Party secretary of Jiao Tong University, said they will continue to support the program too.

“It is important to train teachers if we want rural students to have a broader vision and higher aspirations,” he said.

Heritage protection in Tibet

This program, evolving from an activity to let students practice what they learned in class, is run by four teachers and eight students. It is led by Professor Cao Yongkang who is dedicated to protecting architectural heritages in China.

It began last year when they went to Gyangze County in Tibet to conduct a survey on local heritages and found that only 2,300, or 2 percent, of the palace and monastery buildings, murals and other cultural relics there were registered for protection.

They decided to build a digital database for Tibetan heritages using cameras, a 3D laser scanner and a drone to collect visual data. The students also talked to local people to record their history and memories.

They have finished scanning and photographing 50,000 square meters of old houses and will go to Gyangze again this year to evaluate the damages of the heritage buildings and religious murals.

The group said their work will help experts work out repair plans, and their first-hand data will also help local government make decisions to develop tourism as a major industry of Gyangze.

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