6 Women Win National Education Role Model Award

Twelve distinguished teachers, six of whom were women, on September 4 received the honorary title of the National Education Role Model Award ahead of Teacher's Day which falls on September 10. 

The recipients were selected from a list of 66 candidates, and they are engaged in different educational sectors, including higher education, vocational education, preschool education and specialized education, according to the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Ministry of Education.

From 2010, the Ministry of Education began to honor 10 excellent teachers who enjoy good reputation every year and awarded them the prestigious title of "National Education Role Models." This year, two places were added to honor the teachers who have made outstanding contribution to the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control.  

The followings are the stories of the honored women teachers.

Dou Guimei is principal and Chinese teacher at the Beijing-based Tsinghua University Primary School. She creates innovative teaching methods of Chinese lessons to facilitate the language development of primary school students.

She also developed a "one plus X" curriculum system which has been well-received by primary schools around the country, with an eye on the well-rounded development of students. The school's courses were livestreamed to thousands of remote education centers in the poverty-stricken counties across the country to help the locals shake off poverty through improving education.

During the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the school undertook the responsibility of providing nationwide broadcasts of high-quality online lessons. The school teachers have given a total of 816 lessons in just four months.

Wei Yali, a teacher at Weifang Commercial College, East China's Shandong Province focuses on building up students' confidence by unearthing their potential and encourages them to achieve good results by organizing various vocational skills competitions. Some of her students have won world championships in professional competitions.

Meanwhile, she motivates her students to pursue higher education. In the past five years, she and her team members have helped more than 400 students fulfill their dreams of undergraduate education.

Xiao Min is a teacher from a special education school in Luzhou City, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Southwest China's Sichuan Province. She strived to understand disabled student's needs, design personalized plans for them, and pacify their moods with love and patience.

Also, she spent years fighting for more special education resources to disabled students in the autonomous prefecture and training more special education teachers.

He Mei is a kindergarten teacher in Chengguan Town, Hezhang County, Bijie City, Southwest China's Guizhou Province. With a passion for preschool education, she spent years in caring for children from mountainous areas by picking them up and offering free lunches to them.

When the earthquake hit Hezhang on July 2, He rushed into the classroom, leading 32 children to safely evacuate within 17 seconds. "I didn't have time to be afraid. What first came to my mind was the students' safety," she said.

Zhang Guimei, 63, principal of the Huaping High School for Girls in Lijiang City, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, has been devoting her life to helping local girls receive an education, and she has been offering a warm, loving home to orphans.

Zhang founded the first free-of-charge girls' senior middle school in China in 2008, Given Zhang and other teachers' efforts in helping the students improve their studies, all of the children during the past nine years have been admitted to universities or colleges.

In addition to the next generation's education, Zhang also cared for their lives. In March 2001, supported by the local government, she established the Huaping Children's Welfare Home.

Ding Haiyan is a teacher of Hui ethnic group in a nine-year boarding school in the mountainous areas of Xunyi County, Xianyang City, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. She is considered not only a good teacher but also a "caring mother" of the students.

She emphasizes on cultivating students' characters and morals. After school, she often takes them to help impoverished elderly people do household chores.

In addition, she pays attention to the education of ethnic unity among students and their parents by telling stories and interpreting ethnic preferential policies issued by the CPC and Chinese government.

(Source: CCTV/Translated and edited by Women of China)