September 10 marks China’s Teachers’ Day. President Xi Jinping has frequently called for respect for teachers and put forward his hopes on them.

“It is a blessing for someone to meet a good teacher. It is the glory of the school to have a good teacher. It is the hope of the nation that a group of good teachers emerge,” Xi said.

Here are some of the inspiring moments between Xi and teachers.

“It is the teachers who cultivate us”

On the eve of Teachers’ Day in 2016, Xi sent greetings to teachers and educators throughout the country, during a visit to his alma mater, Beijing Bayi School. Xi attended the school during his elementary and junior high school years.

President Xi Jinping talks with teachers during a visit to his alma mater, Beijing Bayi School on Sept. 9, 2016. (Photos: Xinhua)

Some retired teachers in the school were very excited to meet their old student Xi. Xi shook hands with his teachers, happily recalled memories and talked about the current situation of other teachers and classmates.

Xi said he was so happy to see the teachers in good spirits, adding that he enjoyed a lifetime of benefits from his teachers’ strictness.

A teacher told Xi, “You’ve brought happiness to the people.” Xi replied, “It is the teachers who cultivate us.”

President Xi Jinping shakes hands with teachers during a visit to his alma mater, Beijing Bayi School on Sept. 9, 2016. 

Deep care for teachers’ needs

Since his years as a local official, Xi has been paying a great deal of attention to education and caring deeply for teachers’ working conditions.

In March 1984, Xi, who then served as the Party secretary of Zhengding county, North China’s Hebei Province, visited an elementary school in a village and found shabby school buildings. Teachers and students went in and out of the classrooms through a big hole on the wall.  

Xi got angry, saying to the village officials that “given the conditions in the village, you shouldn’t make the school like this, and you should definitely have the ability to make it better.” “If you don’t take actions to improve the school’s condition in a month, you’ll be dismissed from your post,” he said.

President Xi Jinping presides over a symposium for teachers of ideological and political theory in Beijing, capital of China, March 18, 2019.

Xi has many times asked about the difficulties and the needs that teachers had during his visits in schools across the country. He urged Party organs and governments to make teaching the most respected job in China.

Ardent hope for teachers

On Sept. 9, 2014, Xi visited teachers and students at Beijing Normal University, where he observed lectures and held discussions with teachers and students.

President Xi Jinping talks with teachers who receive training at Beijing Normal University, on Sept. 9, 2014. 

In one classroom, about 50 elementary school teachers from Guizhou Province who were receiving training at Beijing Normal University were discussing the problems and confusion they faced in teaching.

Xi learned about the education conditions in their region and their lives and studies in Beijing. Xi said that he hoped the teachers from rural areas in central and western China could take back the advanced education ideas and scientific teaching methods they’ve learned through the training, and contribute to promoting reform in fundamental education and to implementing quality-oriented education.

Under Xi’s instructions and encouragement, many training programs and reform plans have been carried out, and a dynamic team of good teachers is emerging in China. 

(Compiled by Zhan Huilan)