Poverty alleviation through cloud teaching

(File Photo)

The Internet Plus strategy has impacted society in fundamental ways, and IT-based education has also taken a front-row seat China’s promotion of education reform. The Internet has become a new weapon in fighting poverty as more students in poverty-stricken areas study and interact with teachers online.

According to statistics, Internet education in Chinese primary and middle schools has developed rapidly year on year, from 4.4% in 2008 to an expected 12.2% in 2017. Internet plus education is believed to be a new trend in the future, and the 13th Five Year Plan also notably included IT-based education and announced a plan to accelerate broadband Internet installation in all school in order to provide optimal teaching resources to all classes and ensure that all students have access to online education. The plan aims to provide more learning opportunities by developing online education and modern long-distance education.

Poverty alleviation through education has been ongoing in China and has gradually spread to more places; nevertheless, disparities between regions, urban and rural areas, and between different ethnicities are still prominent. These are structural issues, and as a result teaching resources are greatly unbalanced while teaching concepts also differ widely. Against this backdrop, targeted poverty alleviation through education has become a new strategy. IT-based education is believed to be key to connecting students in poverty-stricken areas with educational resources and breaking the cycle of poverty for these people.

During the Two Sessions this year, many proposals regarding targeted poverty alleviation through education were submitted. One proposal raised by CPPCC member Ma Min suggested implementing targeted IT-based education projects in poor rural areas in central and western China. Ma suggested that the local government, primary and middle schools, universities and enterprises collaborate to build digitized schools that would reach students from townships to villages.

It’s expected that the project will connect and combine rural and urban educational resources to deliver targeted poverty alleviation through education.

At present the key to implementing poverty alleviation through education is delivering optimal teaching resources and increasing the coverage in a relatively short period of time. Information technology plays a vital part in the process, as satellites and the Internet can reach places where these resources are needed most.