Teen star Wang Yuan and UNICEF promotes quality education in China

Chinese teen star Wang Yuan, also UNICEF Special Advocate for Education, gives a music lesson at a child-friendly school in Sanjiang, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in September 2017. [Photo: courtesy of UNICEF/Xia Yong]

Providing education for the world’s largest population is no doubt a huge challenge. But over the past several decades, China has managed to secure access to education for almost all school-age children.

Now the country is facing the even more challenging task of providing equal and quality education for its hundreds of millions of young people.

To meet this new challenge, the Chinese government has been working with UNICEF, the UN children’s fund, under a program called Child-friendly School in some underdeveloped parts of the vast country. 

Sanjiang county is a mountainous region mostly inhabited by the Dong ethnic minority. [Photo: dfic.cn]

“Please each of you, share something you are very proud of, ok?”

“I helped my mom wash the dishes. She said I was great. So did I.”

A rural primary school class in a county called Sanjiang, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in southern China--you may be wondering why this class is special and worthy of attention.

In many schools, especially in rural regions, teachers simply force-feed textbook knowledge into the children, who are then required to simply recite what they’ve learnt, a boring and ineffective teaching method. 

But by asking pupils to express themselves and carry out other activities, teachers at the Central Primary School of Guyi Town are cultivating non-cognitive skills, including self-confidence, peer interaction, sports, and personal hygiene.

In fact, the school is a beneficiary of the Child-friendly School Program conducted by China’s Ministry of Education and UNICEF.

According to the UN children’s fund, the program focuses on improving the quality of education by making it an engaging and stimulating experience for children aged between six and twelve.

Fu Ning, UNICEF China Education Officer, elaborates. 

“Child-friendly School is a pilot program jointly supported by UNICEF and the Ministry of Education in China. A child-friendly school promotes inclusiveness and equality. It encourages student participation. 

“With a focus on improving the school’s environment and the quality of teaching, a safe, protective and healthy learning environment will be provided at the school.”

Since 2001, the Central Primary School of Guyi Town in a mountainous region of Guangxi has been turning the program’s concept into reality. 

Li Xiaoxue, Vice Principal of the primary school, says the benefits have been obvious since introducing the quality education concept of the program. 

“We have seen fewer conflicts between the students. And there are fewer people flying into a rage over tiny problems. 

“They have learned self-control, how to get along with others, and how to put themselves in other people’s shoes.”

In September this year, pupils at the school greeted a rare guest, Chinese teen star Wang Yuan, who is also the UNICEF Special Advocate for Education.

The 17-year-old singer and actor has been named by Time Magazine as one of the 30 most influential teens in the world. 

During his visit, Wang Yuan gave a music lesson to the students, visited a school vegetable garden, and led children in washing their hands.

Wang says he was impressed by what the school had taught its students. 

“Many habits are formed from a young age. Habits like washing hands come from a subtle influence early in life. The toilets and canteen are very clean. Health is the most important thing. 

“Growing vegetables offers a hands-on experience for children from a young age and helps to nurture the ethic of hard work.”

Under the UNICEF program, participating schools must put in place quality water, sanitation and hygiene facilities to encourage children to develop good personal hygiene habits.

Meanwhile, teachers have also been trained to improve the quality of their teaching methods.

Wang Yuan plays basketball with the students at a child-friendly school in Sanjiang. [Photo: courtesy of UNICEF/Xia Yong]

Wang’s visit ventured into sports too – on a basketball court, the teen star joined a training session with the students to encourage team-spirit among the children.

Speaking at a press briefing in Beijing two months after the visit, Wang recalled what he had learned from his interaction with the students in Guangxi. 

“I could feel the students’ passion for sports when I played basketball with them in the Guangxi child-friendly school. More importantly, I could see that playing sports had made them happy. 

“Doing sports classes not only teaches them sporting skills, it also strengthens them physically and relaxes them. I think physical exercise is a crucial part of growing up, and benefits both the mind and the body.”

Wang Yuan speaks at a press briefing promoting the concept of equal and quality education in Beijing in November, 2017. [Photo: Chinaplus]

In fact, the UNICEF program has benefited tens of thousands of students in Sanjiang county, a mountainous region mostly inhabited by the Dong ethnic minority. 

Long Huaiyi, Director of the Education Bureau of Sanjiang county, explains. 

“UNICEF’s child-friendly school program has been implemented in Sanjiang since 2001. The program keeps growing here. The number of students to benefit from it has increased from the original 2,400 to more than 17,000. 

“We have witnessed an improvement in students’ non-cognitive skills, such as communication, an ability to express themselves and self-confidence.”

Wang Yuan, as UNICEF Special Advocate for Education, says he will use his popularity and influence to promote the concept of quality education across China. 

“With my personal experience of the child-friendly schools in Guangxi, I want to convey the concept of equal and quality education to more people. I want more children to get access to such education so they can realize their dreams.”

With such successful implementation so far, UNICEF is planning to expand the program in China. 

Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative to China, says the task ahead for her organization and the Chinese government is to bring quality education to vulnerable groups, such as children who are left-behind. 

“Today, we want to shine a light on the right that all children in China have to an education that will set them up with the skills and confidence for a great future, a quality education that will show them different ways of thinking, creating, innovating, an education that will see them thrive in the next generation of jobs. 

“China has made remarkable progress in securing access to education. The challenge today is to make (the) quality education (as we’ve seen) in child-friendly schools. We need in particular to reach the most vulnerable across China.”

Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative to China, calls for increased efforts to bring quality education to vulnerable groups, such as the left-behind children. [Photo: Chinaplus]

China has achieved near universal access to primary education but there are significant disparities in the quality of teaching, with rural regions lagging behind.  

In recent decades, the issue of children left behind in the countryside has loomed large as millions of children grow up with little or incomplete parental care after their parents migrate to far-away cities for better jobs. 

What make matters even worse is that many of these children have no choice but to look after siblings or elderly family members as their parents aren’t around.

There are some nine million so-called left-behind children across the country, according to a government survey.

Both government and other charity efforts are being intensified to help them. 

As of the end of August this year, over 680,000 previously unsupervised left-behind children have been placed in the custody of guardians, according to an office affiliated to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Since November 2016, a total of nearly 12,000 left-behind children who had dropped out of school have now resumed their education.

Some local governments have allocated funds for the children's protection and provided them with assistance such as medical care and education.