HANDS-ON TRAINING: Volunteers Lan Tianhua (second left) and Chen Guokun (second right) from the Youcheng Evergreen Voluntary Teaching Program speak to two young teachers at No.5 Primary School in Helin County, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on March 27 (ZHAO TINGTING)

Local students and teachers were also moved by the passion and commitment of these volunteers, who were often the first ones to arrive to school each morning.

Volunteers derive a sense of self-fulfillment from the program. "The Evergreen program gives me back the wonderful days of being surrounded by teachers and students. Children make me feel young again," Jin wrote in his journal.

China's vast development gap between urban and rural areas clearly manifests itself in the education sector. While schools in large cities are staffed with qualified teachers with university degrees and plenty of training opportunities, schools in the remote countryside often find it hard to attract qualified staff to areas with tough living conditions and limited opportunities for advancement.

Due to the lack of money to employ sufficient numbers of licensed teachers, rural areas once hired unlicensed "substitute teachers" to meet dire shortfalls before the Ministry of Education banned the practice in 2010. Even after the government's years of investment in overhauling rural educational facilities, the shortage of qualified teachers still greatly hinders progress.

China has many volunteer programs sending teachers to rural schools, but some fall short in professional qualifications, and even experienced volunteers do not always make lasting changes before departing.

Yang Yinfu, an education evaluation expert, told the newspaper 21st Century Business Herald that the Evergreen program could be adapted to other areas in China through non-governmental organizations as limited financial resources are needed.

The program was launched in two primary schools and one junior middle school in Hexian County, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, in September 2011. Besides sending veteran educators to tutor young teachers, the program has also financed field study trips for rural teachers to go to three top-rated urban schools in Hohhot, the regional capital, where they learned advanced educational concepts first-hand.

According to the program's office, between 2011 and 2012 the program recruited 2,118 volunteers, who provided services at 33 schools in 16 counties in seven provinces and autonomous regions. It has a plan to help 500 schools in poverty-stricken areas in 100 counties within the next three to five years.

Untapped resources

Under the program, volunteers have to stay at the school they consult for at least three weeks a time to offer one-on-one coaching to young teachers and provide suggestions on school administration in general. The program subsidizes volunteers' travel and living expenses. After Tang became executive vice chairman of the China Social Entrepreneur Foundation in December 2012, the program has been financed by the nonprofit organization engaged in anti-poverty efforts.

Shortly after being appointed to the Counselors' Office of the State Council in 2011, Tang expressed his belief that China's retired teachers, engineers and medical workers represent a talent pool waiting to be explored.

As one of his first duties as a consultant to China's cabinet, Tang was invited to give suggestions on a government report before its submission to the annual National People's Congress in March 2011. Tang told then Premier Wen Jiabao about the Evergreen program in Guangxi and suggested launching similar programs elsewhere to take advantage of the expertise of retired professionals, winning Wen's recognition and praise.

Tang told China Newsweek that he was confident about enlarging the brand by including retired professionals from other fields.

"By organizing such programs, we could further narrow the gap between urban and rural areas. We not only need to inject money in rural development, but also tap the potential of hundreds of thousands of qualified personnel. Retirees have the expertise as well as the network to mobilize other resources," Tang said.

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