Rural schools are in dire need of well-educated teachers, particularly those who specialize in arts. (Photo : Reuters)
Despite the surplus of teaching graduates in recent years, an official from the Ministry of Education (MOE) has announced at a conference that schools in rural areas remain significantly understaffed.
According to the MOE official, of the 650,000 graduates that majored in teaching, 60 percent cannot find work at primary or secondary schools.
Xu Tao, director of MOE's Department of Teacher Education, further revealed in the conference held in Shanghai on Oct. 12 that the government only offers a total of 250,000 positions per year. This is in stark contrast to the number of teaching graduates, which totaled to 617,800 in 2014.
Director Xu also shone light on the situation in central and western Chinese provinces, where rural schools are in dire need of well-educated teachers, particularly those who specialize in arts.
The conference, which was attended by presidents from China's top universities, caused some experts to call on the reduction of teaching students, while others called for financial support for rural schools and effective training for their current teaching staff.
According to Chen Qun, president of East China Normal University in Shanghai, a total of 262,946 graduates (196,629 from teaching training colleges) were recruited by schools in 2012. The numbers also reflect 30 percent of graduates who were able to find work, as 656,560 graduates also left schools the same year.
"Previously, the government was responsible for allocating graduates to different schools. Therefore, large numbers of students who chose to study at teaching colleges got a permanent job after graduation. However, after this policy was ended, many graduates failed to enter schools due to the limits on the number of posts," said Chu Zhaoui from the China National Institute for Educational Research in an interview with the Global Times.
Chu also attributed fierce competition as one of the reasons why so many teaching graduates remain unemployed.
Meanwhile, the MOE has devoted 2.15 billion yuan, which they will issue every year, to provide training to teachers employed in rural schools. A fund of 10.3 billion yuan has also been allocated to raise their salaries.
