The Ministry of Education, along with five other authorities, recently unveiled several special projects to ease the employment pressure.

Over 400,000 college graduates will be recruited to teach at elementary, secondary and vocational schools, as well as kindergartens. They will be allowed to start working before taking teacher certification exams until the end of the year as long as they are eligible to apply for the exam and have professional competence.

There will be 8.74 million new college graduates this year facing significant challenges finding jobs amid the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic. Thus, those projects will not only create more employment possibilities but also reserve talent for the development of primary education.

However, some people are concerned that overlooking certification, even temporarily, may lower the overall quality of new teachers. Some noted that the graduates will receive specific training and will still have to meet certain qualifications after recruitment. Since certification exams usually focus on theoretical knowledge, they are not the only standard for evaluation.

In recent years, conditions at rural schools have greatly improved along with the promotion of education for poverty alleviation. However, the gap between urban and rural areas still exists, with teachers being the critical factor for improving education. Due to the pandemic, general public budget revenue has declined, which can be a challenge to guarantee good salaries for teachers. Therefore, governments at all levels should adhere to prioritizing education and stabilizing the financial investment in education.

(This is an edited excerpt of an article originally published in Guangming Daily on May 8)    

(Print Edition Title: Enlarging the Educational Force)