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UK university program is a class act for pupils
2019-06-05 
Students from the University of Huddersfield and a local official, Sun Jianxia (fifth from left), visit a rural primary school in Guizhou province in May. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Students from British college teach and make friends in a primary school in Guizhou province.

It wasn't the presents the visitors brought with them, nor the time off classroom lessons that made the biggest impression among pupils at a rural primary school in southwestern Guizhou province. It was something much more valuable and intangible-meeting people from a faraway land and making new friends.

Li Chuanlei was thrilled when volunteers from a British university visited his school, Anqing Primary School, in Baide town, the Qianxinan Buyi and Miao autonomous prefecture, in late May.

They brought presents, including textbooks, stationery, sports goods and souvenirs but the key memory from the special day for Li was learning to play basketball and sing English songs with these "big brothers and sisters" who came all the way from the United Kingdom.

"It was fun and really different from my usual school days," says the 9-year-old boy.

The feeling that this day was a special day was reciprocated.

"For the children, it was a joy to see people from another country, but for me, it was to see kids who mean the world to me," says Neha Jasmine Rodrigues, one of the volunteer students from the University of Huddersfield who visited the primary school in May.

"These little kids had a twinkle in their eyes and their faces were glowing with smiles," she says. "A little time with them just made life seem complete, and the little knowledge and love that I could share made me feel accomplished."

Rodrigues is currently pursuing a master's degree in education at the University of Huddersfield, whose China office was behind this philanthropic program in Guizhou.

It was the seventh visit that the university has organized over the past three years, according to Allen Qi, chief brand officer of the China office with the British university that was founded in 1841. The primary school where these students volunteer to teach is the biggest of its kind in Baide town and has more than 500 pupils. Most of them come from nearby villages. Many are living with their grandparents, because their parents have left to work in the cities.

Children at the Anqing Primary School in Guizhou's Baide town welcome a volunteer student from the British university. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"We want college students to do something meaningful in their spare time," says Qi. "Most of our pupils are orphans or 'left-behind children'."

The goal is to enable them to experience a life vastly different from their own.

"In this way, they can better appreciate life, learn to respect others and be grateful," Qi says.

To date, the University of Huddersfield has developed cooperative relations with more than 400 institutes of higher learning in China, according to Qi.

It has staged nearly 100 charity events for rural young students on the Chinese mainland since 2015, involving many volunteers from domestic colleges.

"Every year we would recruit elite students from Huddersfield and our partners to join our volunteer programs," Qi says.

Students visit children in need and engage in a two-week teaching program at the school.

"Afterward, they will get our volunteer certificates, living allowances, and even scholarships," Qi adds.

Some Chinese students of the domestic colleges who participated in the volunteer programs, opted to study at the University of Huddersfield after joining those philanthropic events, while some students at the university continued to engage in rural teaching even after graduation.

Shi Zhonghui has already planned to visit the Anqing school soon after his graduation from Huddersfield in July.

Shi had his first interaction with the pupils back in 2017, when he came here to work as a volunteer teacher.

"I immediately felt a bond with them," Shi says.

Although Shi and his team helped the children in the weeklong program, including teaching them math, literature, music and paper-cutting, he felt he received a lot more from them.

"They taught me how to love, respect, stay curious and be kind," Shi says.

For Rodrigues, she had a special wish for the pupils.

"May they learn more with each passing day and feel loved and really cared for," she says.

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