China has more than 17.9 million teachers across the country, a 3.52 percent increase than the previous year, according to the Ministry of Education on Wednesday.

Chen Fangying teaches English at Alimalik Village of Akto County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, May 12, 2021. Chen Fangying, a 24-year-old village teacher, is from southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Photo: Xinhua)

Since the beginning of this year, 1.91 million people have passed the teacher certificate exam, an increase of 28.7 percent than the entire last year.

The country has seen an optimization in the distribution of educators and an expansion of teaching professionals.

Among them, the number of special education teachers has increased by 6.11 percent, kindergarten teachers by 5.44 percent and college faculty by 5.34 percent.

Over the past 16 years, a total of 1.03 million teachers have been added to rural schools in the central and western regions. These teachers are committed to educating students from some of the most remote areas and ethnic minority regions in the country.

(Compiled by Feng Zhenglin)