Tuesday, November 13, 2001

2 Hong Kong Foundations Turn to Technology to Help China Teach Its Teachers By JAMES BORTON Hong Kong Two Hong Kong-based foundations are proving instrumental in China's efforts to provide better training for teachers in China's remote western provinces. The foundations -- the Li Ka-shing Foundation and the H.S. Chau Foundation -- are cooperating with China's Ministry of Education to support technology training for rural teachers. The two foundations have set up an intensive, two-week teacher-training program under the aegis of the China Central Radio and Television University, in Beijing. The university was established in 1979 to help China rebound from the educational turmoil of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. It is charged specifically with nationwide delivery of distance-learning programs. The Chau Foundation has donated operating funds and computers for students to use during the two-week technology-instruction program at the radio and television university. The efforts reinforce China's far-reaching "Invest West" campaign, which seeks to bring technological innovation to rural villages in the western part of the country. Li Ka-shing is chairman of Hong Kong's Cheung Kong Holdings and widely regarded as one of the Asia's wealthiest men. His foundation, formed in 1980, is perhaps best known for donating $1.2-billion to build Shantou University, near his hometown in Guangdong. The other foundation is the creation of Chau Hoi-shuen, who has worked with Mr. Li in real-estate projects in Beijing. Ms. Chau's foundation, though much less well endowed than Mr. Li's, has nonetheless provided about $3.2-million to educate female teachers from remote villages and has contributed approximately $6.4-million since 1996 to educational pilot projects. At the same time, Ms. Chau and Mr. Li have helped persuade China's government to provide free satellite Internet access to schools in remote villages -- including many single-room schools with dirt floors. In China -- where only one out of 20 young people receives higher education, and female teachers in rural primary schools make too little to support a family, much less buy a house -- such instruction is critical. Ms. Chau has persuaded Mr. Li to spend an additional $12.8-million to enroll an additional 10,000 teachers in the intensive two-week computer-training program. "It's gratifying to see and hear how these teachers are so grateful for this opportunity to gain choices and to learn a skill that will impact on so many lives back in their poor villages," said Ms. Chau in an interview in her office in Hong Kong. The success of the two foundations' program has helped bolster similar efforts. The Ministry of Education recently announced that Tengtu International Corporation and the Canadian Centre for Education and Training have established a joint venture that will help to develop the world's largest e-education system, capable of reaching 250 million potential students. China's Education TV Center has also upgraded its technologies with a $450,000 investment in the past year. So far, more than 35 universities have joined the program, now called Internet Education Academy. More than 10 cities are working with the center to set up e-learning and educational programs, and many are eagerly seeking foreign partners and technology vendors. The effort may bring more than 40 million users directly to the program within three years. Not everyone has come forth with glowing assessments of the new programs. Some academic critics believe China's emphasis on technology-based instruction is premature and in most cases is more about style than substance. "Sure, the Chinese government is liberalizing their educational policies," said Thomas Chan, head of the China Business Centre at the prestigious Hong Kong Polytechnic University. "China is indeed at a transitional stage, and yet they do have a long history of distance learning, which has included the use of television. However, only a handful of institutions are truly providing interactive online learning." Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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