Nanfang Daily: Huangpu to beef up government input on education

Guangzhou’s Huangpu district and the Guangzhou Development District will increase government input on education starting from Jan 1, 2020, according to a document released at a conference on Oct 23.

The document covers 10 articles, ranging from running schools through education groups to assessment and incentives for teachers’ development. It aims to offer higher enrollment and quality education to students, as well as to balance educational resources.

According to the document, the district will increase spending on education by an additional 150 million yuan ($21.23 million) next year and the amount will rise in line with local financial strength.

"We should promote high-quality growth of the whole district with high-quality education, launch Huangpu’s own education brand, and make education the core competitiveness for the district’s all-round development," said a local official.

The district made a thorough survey of 16 issues, from the management of faculty and facilities to autonomy in school administration before rolling out the document.

On Dec 12, 2018, Huangpu’s first five basic education groups were unveiled, marking the start of the district’s reform on running schools through education groups.

“Our next task is to develop high-quality education; running schools through education groups is a tool to promote the balance of high-quality education,” said Zhang Jianwu, head of the Huangpu district education bureau.

The document suggests more detailed measures to encourage running schools through education groups such as personnel exchanges between group members, and sets maximum annual subsidies for school groups at preschool, primary and secondary levels at 1.2 million yuan, 1.5 million yuan and 2 million yuan respectively.

Those teachers who are out of bianzhi (state administrative service for which wages and welfare are paid from public funds) are allowed to compete for designation as middle-ranking leaders, which is a reformative incentive measure in the district.

In 2018, the district attracted 138 projects, including 29 headquarters settlements. A group of large investment projects and high-tech firms came one after another this year.

As more investment projects were started in Huangpu and the GDD, more international professionals and high-end talents have come to the district. There is an urgent need to offer high-quality education resources to those people.

The district will therefore advocate international schools and encourage sister schools and sister kindergartens between the district and Hong Kong and Macao as well as special classes for Hong Kong and Macao students in local schools.

Children of qualified people from Hong Kong and Macao will enjoy enrollment in public schools just as locals do.

Huangpu has achieved remarkable enhancement of diversification and quality of education. To date, six international schools have settled down in the district, accounting for 60 percent of the city's total.

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