International Education Practice and Cooperation with 200 High Schools in Guangdong Province
BEIJING, GUANGZHOU and SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- On September 27, an opening press conference of The Project of International Talents and Innovation Excellence (PITIE) was held in South China Normal University in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province. This project will benefit more than 500,000 high school students, 800 student activity clubs and 1,000 teachers across 200 high schools in Guangdong Province over the next three years. Officials from the Provincial Education Department, the Provincial Civil Affairs Department, the Provincial United Front Work Department, the Guangdong Chamber of Commerce, the League Committee and other governmental departments attended the event and spoke highly of the future development of The Project of International Talent and Innovation Excellence.
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Wu Huanquan, the Vice Chairman of Guangdong Provincial Association for Science and Technology, pointed out in the release of the National Education Program for Youth Development Outline that cultivating youth is the key importance for education because developing creativity and innovation is essential to meet the needs of the country. The Project of International Talent and Innovation Excellence is the solution to these needs.
Deputy Director of the Guangdong NGO, Wang Shiguo stated that this project will open a new model of charitable giving - rather than giving to the poorest, PITIE promotes the inner development of those youths with the most creative potential.
Promoting the Internationalization of Well Rounded Education
This project is being carried out by the Shenzhen Education and Inner Development Youth Fund (EIDYF) which aims to develop the best education for young people in Shenzhen and in China. EIDYF started the project with donations totaling 6 million RMB and the fund is targeted to raise a further 20 million RMB to continue the project over the next three years.
This project has already received support from the National Development and Research Center, the Guangdong Department of Education, Sun Yat-Sen University, the Guangdong Scholar Society, the Guangdong Science and Technology Association and other organizations. Professors from South China Normal University, Sun Yat-Sen University, the Guangdong Institute for Educational Research, and Ivy Elite Education Group (IEE) will provide a series of professional training and counseling courses for this project.
PITIE aims to introduce state-of-the-art international school teaching methodologies, international high school courses, and welcome the introduction of instructors from top tier American universities. These are difficult to obtain opportunities for Chinese students to expand their international horizons and broaden their global perspective.
Promoting International Education
Professor Chen Hancai, the previous Dean of the Education Department of South China Normal University, will serve as a project leader of PITIE. He said this project will help young people explore their potential and develop their talents to become students with a global perspective and open-minded thinking. PITIE will select 200 Guangdong high schools to serve as models to provide innovation for China's K-12 education system. This can be the beginning of reform and opening up of the Chinese educational system.
Miss Hu Xiaohong, Deputy Head of PITIE, is responsible for implementation. Miss Hu utilizes her successful overseas education at well- known universities and her 20 years' experience in international education to contribute to this groundbreaking project. Miss Hu was a core member of the High School English Research and Development Project organized by the Ministry of Education (MoE), and currently serves as chief education advisor of IEE. Miss Hu has utilized support from MoE and other government departments to explore the cultivation of international creative talents among Chinese high schools. She has also developed advanced international courses which can be added to the curriculum at any Chinese high school. Miss Hu has developed a successful cultivation model for international creative talents, and is thus the catalyst of reform in China's educational system.
International Cooperation
PITIE enhances young students' knowledge in terms of international politics with programs including Model United Nations International Conference (MUN), the Youth Science and Technology Inventor Competition, the Enterprise Business Plan, and public art performances, and charity/community service.
China has a vital need for practical knowledge and various training styles to cultivate international innovative talents. Therefore, PITIE is inviting overseas teachers from prestigious universities to take part in this project to provide professional guidance and training for our students and teachers. We have established good relations with the best universities in the world including Harvard University, Yale University and Hong Kong University to establish international teacher training bases at overseas universities. Each year PITIE will appoint the highest quality teachers and principals to attend these international teacher training bases in overseas schools and universities to study and explore state-of-the-art teaching models and advanced management experiences to help cultivate top quality teachers and top leaders from schools with global perspectives and innovative thinking.
Exam based education versus All-Round Education
China's education dilemma is the overemphasis on test scores which comes at the cost of ignoring inner qualities in the students. To break this cycle we need to develop and support more extra-curricular activities to enhance the character of our students as well as the quality of our education.
The purpose of The Project for International Talents and Innovations Excellence is to help our students broaden their educational interests. This can be achieved by establishing programs that cultivate social entrepreneurship and improve young people's planning, implementation, management and operation capabilities. Students in the performing arts community can also establish talents that contribute to the local community. Programs such as the Model United Nations enrich understanding of international politics and enhance both leadership and critical thinking skills.
The establishment of a student charity organization enables students to cultivate broader concern for the social issues and establish ties to the community. PITIE will also develop young people's interest in science to encourage invention and innovation. These kinds of experiences improve the overall quality of young people and broaden their horizons.
The Future of Education
PITIE will be promoted through educational seminars domestically and abroad in order to share teaching knowledge and experiences. The project's organizing committee will issue a regular report on the latest research results and practical experiences. PITIE will also publish teaching materials, videos, and books, as well as provide research papers to academic journals.
SOURCE Shenzhen Education and Inner Development Youth Fund (EIDYF)
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