Shanghai's Schools Strive for Equality as Well as Excellence

Receiving children of migrant workers into local schools is only the beginning of the adjustment process. We help them start their new school life in Shanghai, integrate them into the city and ensure well-rounded development – a very important thing in a city that accommodates China’s best-performing and academically demanding schools. As I have found out, sometimes these students have low self-esteem due to disadvantaged family lives or poor living conditions.

One day, I found that some of the children were embarrassed about their parents’ supposed lowly occupations. In response, I invited some student journalists to follow and record a “day in the life” of some students’ parents. Several days later, we held a themed class meeting called Happiness Reserve. During the screening of the “day in the life” video, students got to know how hard their parents had to work for a better life. Afterwards they were noticeably moved by their parents’ hard work. “Dad, I’m sorry. You are the best, I love you,” was one comment from the child of a fishmonger who professed to previously having little idea about his parents’ daily grind.

There are other ways to help these children. We guide them by fostering effective study habits and building up their confidence. We encourage them by praising their abilities and talents.

Many children of migrant workers are often less economically privileged than Shanghai locals, but the education both groups receive should be of the same, high quality. Both groups should also have a range of after-school activities to pursue in their spare time and nourish their passions.

We help in other ways as well. For example, every student at Pingnan School is given a harmonica. A while ago, I visited the home of a migrant worker whose son and daughter were students at our school. I was delighted to find that the two were practicing harmonica in their room, unaware their headmistress was visiting.

In order to provide students with ample opportunity to develop hobbies, we also set up classes in such sports as Go (a Chinese board game), gymnastics, and tennis, among others. The aim is to broaden their minds and improve their health.

We also encourage healthy living habits among children. For example, every classroom is equipped with a washbasin, and children are urged to wash their hands and face after meals and activities. Establishing healthy and hygienic practices in school means they’re more likely to live healthily once they head out and make their own way in the world.

With regard to studies, teachers are aware that some children of migrant workers may have particular difficulties in specific areas. They are always open and approachable, and quickly get to know students’ individual needs.

In 2010, the World Expo was held in Shanghai. Not every child in Shanghai could afford to attend, let alone the children of migrant workers.

In 2011, we came up with a novel idea to allow them to experience the Expo atmosphere. We prepared and decorated the classrooms with different themes representing different countries, just like at the Expo. The activities were timed on June 1, International Children’s Day. At the “U.K. Pavilion” there was a miniature British cityscape; at the “France Pavilion” there was a little Eiffel Tower, and by the combined “Africa Pavilion” students dressed up in some of the countries’ national costumes. Additionally, all visitors to the “pavilions” were issued an “Expo Passport” wherein they could get a “visa stamp” at the end of a visit – just like at the real Expo.

Our school is doing everything it can to create a warm, friendly environment for its students, regardless of their background or family situation.

In my opinion, a school should do its best to provide students with equal opportunities in education and guarantee their happy and healthy growth.

In 1999, I attended a management forum that looked at the business practices of the world’s top 500 companies. I believe that their models on growth and development can be applied to some extent in school education. To a degree, a school can be regarded as an organization through which the government provides tangible services to its customers – students.

I have tried to employ this concept in our daily teaching services. We approach teaching as a service to students, rather than as a mandate. The service approach aims to smooth out kinks in the education chain by individually tailoring approaches to every child’s educational experience.

In the past, many families chose to send their children to schools in faraway neighborhoods due to differing education standards. But now more and more children are choosing to stay local. Our school, for instance, has risen to become well known as an education standard-bearer in Minhang District. Today, we have more than 900 students, 36.6 percent of whom are children of migrant workers. Their attendance enhances, not diminishes, the educational experience of all students who enter our gates.