About 500 male students from Fujian Province will get free education training initiated by the Fujian Provincial Education Department, three local departments, and five teacher's training universities.
The Fujian provincial government came up with this project to ease the serious gender imbalance among primary and kindergarten teachers. One of the biggest challenges schools face is strengthening masculine education.
The free education training will cover generous grants and full support from local government for future employment.
Male students will get a free training in primary and kindergarten schooling, as part of the said project. They also have the privilege to exclusive job fairs available to graduates.
Students who will not make it to the job fairs have the option to teach at public primary schools or kindergartens in their localities. After two years of teaching in their hometowns, they will be endorsed as postgraduate candidates exempt from entrance tests.
This pilot project attracted attention, as millions of National College Entrance examinees are now busy hunting for universities to attend to. Last June 7, about 9.42 million Chinese students sat the NCEE.
Xu Zhihuai, director of student recruitment and employment at Minnan Normal University, said that the problem with primary and kindergarten education in China these days calls for more male teachers to join the profession.
The odds prove gender imbalance, as more than half or 61.6 percent of Fujian primary schools are females. In urban areas, there are around 83.2 percent of female teaching staff.
The main causes of fewer male teachers at primary schools and kindergartens are low social status, limited career prospects and unsatisfactory pay.
Male students will be required to sign a contract with the local education department and agree to teach for at least 10 years in primary or kindergarten. Otherwise, students will be charged with a penalty and will be liable to pay all the fees during their education.