Participants applaud after a representative's speech at an awarding ceremony to honor model teachers and outstanding groups and institutions in China's education sector in Beijing, Sept 8, 2024. The awarding ceremony was held on Sunday in Beijing ahead of Teachers' Day, which falls on Sept 10. This year's Teachers' Day is the 40th of its kind in China. [Photo/Xinhua]
Tuesday marks the annual Teachers' Day. The central authorities have recently urged teachers to adapt to the fast-changing social landscape and the advancement of technology so as to strengthen education and make sure that teachers can provide more intellectual support for the country's high-quality economic and social development in the new era.
China now has 18.92 million teachers. Among them, 78.03 percent of primary school teachers and 93.09 percent of junior middle school teachers hold a bachelor's degree or above.
However, with the number of newborns in China beginning to gradually decline, the teaching profession in the country is also facing a series of challenges.
Record low birth rates in Japan and the Republic of Korea and the ensuing shutdown of many primary, secondary and high schools, and even the inability of some universities to recruit students should serve as a wake-up call to China to prepare for a similar scenario in the future.
The change in demographic structure, the decreasing number of students and smaller class size may lead to a serious surplus of teachers in the future. While bringing more time for teachers to pay attention to the individual needs of students, that will put forward higher requirements for them to develop better and more considerate teaching skills and techniques.
At the same time, China's bid to build an innovative society requires all teachers to develop an inclusive and open approach toward each student as well as their diverse personality development.
