In early September, at the central primary school of Yao Village, Linzhou City, Henan Province, a public donation ceremony had just concluded. The teachers gathered around the table to explore the various functions and usage methods of the Xueersi Xpad. Similar scenes have taken place in 20 schools across 8 regions. In June this year, TAL's brand Xueersi announced the launch of the "Hand in Hand" public donation project, planning to provide learning devices to teachers in 100 rural schools and attempt to set up learning device classrooms in partner schools to explore effective application methods of AI products in rural education scenarios.

In the wave of the digital age, artificial intelligence and intelligent educational hardware are making their way into vast rural areas, bringing unprecedented changes to rural education. For Xueersi, the original intention of launching the "Hand in Hand" public donation project is even purer - hoping to improve the level of education and teaching through the technological carrier of learning devices and to support the revitalization of rural education.

Breaking space limitation and promoting educational equity

Just like the central primary school of Yao Village, Donn Hope Primary School in Zado County, Yushu Prefecture, Qinghai Province, located on the plateau, is also one of the partner schools of the "Hand in Hand" public donation project. On the winding mountain road leading to Zado County, large characters are written on the mountain: "Accelerate the construction of an educationally strong country and provide strong support for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."

"Building an educationally strong country has been a beautiful aspiration pursued by the Chinese nation since modern times." As a complex and systematic project, building an educationally strong country is connected with various aspects. Rural education is the "nerve endings" of our country's education system and an important front. In the industry’s view, the revitalization of rural education aims to cultivate talents for the long-term development of rural areas by improving the quality and equity of rural education and promoting comprehensive progress in the economy and society.

Rural education should prioritize fairness. The National Education Conference proposed continuously improving the universality, accessibility, and convenience of public education services to let all people share the benefits of education reform and development more equally. It is necessary to optimize the allocation of regional educational resources, promote high-quality balanced development of compulsory education, and gradually narrow the gaps between urban and rural areas, regions, schools, and groups.

But how can educational resources cross spatial limitations and deliver high-quality resources to more remote rural areas? Artificial intelligence technology and intelligent educational hardware might provide a solution.

Teachers at Donn Hope Primary School in Qinghai are trying out the Xueersi Xpad.

As the "Hand in Hand" public donation project progresses, Xueersi Xpads have successively been introduced to rural schools in Luding County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province; Horqin District, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia; Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province; Anyang City, Henan Province; Bijie City, Guizhou Province; and Jinyun County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province.

This has, to some extent, allowed rural students to access the same learning resources as urban children. "The Xueersi Xpad possesses three major advantages in terms of software and hardware. Firstly, its content resources can be updated in real-time on the cloud, offering abundant teaching resources. Secondly, it combines artificial intelligence with education, matching each student’s learning situation and building stepwise progressions, allowing students to advance through stages as they would in a video game. Lastly, the Xueersi Xpad uses a new-generation paper-like screen with multiple eye-protection technologies, coupled with time management functions, to minimize eye strain," explained a Xueersi representative.

TAL Group Executive President and Chairman of TAL Charitable Foundation, Wei Chen, shared a detail: “One day, I noticed many comments under my social media account, all from children thanking their teachers for giving them the Xueersi Xpad and expressing how much they liked it. At that moment, I truly felt that what we were doing was meaningful, which is why we want to continue this public welfare activity.”

Of course, relying solely on the learning device cannot achieve educational equality and accessibility; broader and more extensive efforts are needed to address the shortfall in rural educational resources. “Xueersi has been involved in public welfare for over a decade. From building Hope Primary Schools and dispatching teachers for traditional teaching assistance to creating the Chunya Online Education Welfare Platform, exploring smart education, conducting ‘dual-teacher classroom’ remote teaching assistance, and promoting the ‘AI Teacher Mandarin Teaching System’... to recent years’ exploration in intelligent learning hardware, Xueersi has been committed to using its technology and educational experience to promote educational equality and accessibility,” said a Xueersi representative.

Reducing the burden on rural teachers and improving the quality of rural education

Rural revitalization starts with education, and education depends on teachers. Take Chang Keng Primary School in Jinyun County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, for example. Wei Chen revealed: “One rural teacher is like a lever, influencing at least one to two classes of students.” Therefore, the consensus is that “without the dedication of rural teachers and continuous improvement of their qualities, the goal of revitalizing rural education will be challenging to achieve.”

However, rural teachers face several challenges. “On one hand, there are teachers who have to teach multiple subjects or grades alone; on the other hand, in boarding schools, teachers not only have to teach but also manage students' daily lives,” said an industry insider.

Fortunately, leveraging TAL's rich educational research experience and the MathGPT capabilities, effective support can be provided to teachers in lesson preparation, answering questions, and grading homework.

A teacher at Chang Keng Primary School admitted that the Xueersi Xpad can handle grading tasks such as calculations and dictations, helping to reduce the teachers’ burden and allowing them to spend more time on lesson preparation and teaching.

A teacher from Donn Hope Primary School noted, "There are many things to manage daily; if grading time can be saved, it would be a huge help."

By alleviating the pressure of after-class work and addressing teachers' concerns, there is more opportunity and space to improve and try out teaching abilities and methods. A teacher at a boarding school in the Erlang Mountain area of Luding County, Sichuan Province, stated that the Xueersi Xpad not only provides rich educational resources and teaching materials but also helps teachers conduct more vivid and imaginative teaching demonstrations, thereby stimulating students' interest and enthusiasm for learning.

The teachers at Erlang Mountain Primary School use learning devices to assist in teaching

"The Xueersi Xpad provides our school teachers with an abundance of educational research resources and helps them accurately understand students’ grasp of knowledge points. For our rural primary school, it is a means of enhancing teaching levels. Therefore, we believe it’s worth trying to keep pace with the times in education," said the principal of Chang Keng Primary School.

Practicing Public Welfare Care, Always on the Road

Today, the revitalization of rural education is no longer limited to classrooms and textbooks. In the context of improving national scientific competitiveness, cultivating innovative talents, and enhancing the scientific literacy of the entire population, science education plays a crucial role in promoting the construction of an educationally strong country.

The third collective study of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee proposed, “We must do well in integrating science education within the ‘double reduction’ initiative in education, stimulate young people’s curiosity, imagination, and inquisitiveness, and cultivate a cohort of young people with the potential to become scientists and who are willing to dedicate themselves to scientific research.”

However, for rural education, conducting science education is not easy. “Due to resource allocation issues, some remote mountainous areas and primary schools in the central and western regions often lack the necessary teachers and teaching aids for science education. Resources from enterprises can provide substantial support and assistance to local schools in scientific education and quality cultivation,” said Hao Yuefei, General Manager of Xueersi Online School.

Hence, since the beginning of this year, Xueersi has initiated a series of public welfare projects targeting rural science education. On International Museum Day, May 18, Xueersi Online School's Natural History Department, in conjunction with the School of Life Sciences at Peking University, announced the launch of the “100 Museums for Children” public welfare project, pledging to donate collections and set up mini-museums in 100 primary schools nationwide. This initiative enables children in remote areas to break through spatial limitations and receive quality museum education.

In April, the second phase of the Spectrum Action Plan, supported by donations from Xueersi and implemented by the Beijing Guixin Charity Foundation, was officially launched in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province. The project supported 16 schools in Guanghe County, Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, to conduct science popularization activities. Focused on nautical science, the project involved learning engineering knowledge and hands-on design and creation of electric boat models, offering local children a fresh experience with navigation.

“We hope to contribute, however modestly, through the strengths of enterprises, universities, and professional foundations, to schools and children in the central and western regions, planting seeds of science in the hearts of more children,” said a Xueersi representative.

Public welfare is a marathon with no end; it is a task that must always be undertaken. In recent years, TAL has often appeared in disaster-stricken areas, assisting local recovery and reconstruction through educational support and material donations.

In the learning device classroom at the Central School of Ganhe Street, Qixingguan District, Bijie City, children are using learning devices to grade essays

For example, in response to the post-earthquake resettlement and reconstruction work in Luding County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province, the TAL Charitable Foundation donated to support the “9.5 Luding Earthquake Post-Disaster Reconstruction Education Support Project.” This project focuses on three aspects: child assistance, comprehensive space, and teacher development. It aims to help improve the living and educational conditions of children in Luding County, create a comprehensive activity space called the "Future Classroom," and carry out the "Future Teachers Development Workshop," jointly supporting the education sector in Luding County. in the face of the "23·7" Hai River Basin Mega Flood, TAL partnered with the China Guanghua Science and Technology Foundation, donating over ten thousand Science Boxes and enlightenment teaching aids. Through the initiative “Donate Knowledge and Contribute Strength,” the joint effort aimed to assist in the recovery and reconstruction of the disaster-stricken areas, fulfilling corporate social responsibilities.

Luding County Erlang Mountain Area Boarding School Receives Learning Device Donation

"TAL has always adhered to the principle of 'Creating Value Driven By Love,' focusing on livelihood issues and continuously paying attention to public welfare, educational equity, and rural revitalization, thereby earnestly fulfilling corporate social responsibility," stated a TAL representative. “In the future, TAL will continue to uphold the belief in passing on kindness, promote the traditional virtues of dedication and love, and fulfill the mission of public welfare care.”

Text by Li Meng

This article is reprinted from the Beijing Daily

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