On July 13, a volunteer group of 7 students and 2 teachers from Tianjin University’s School of Electrical and Information Engineering concluded their one-week teaching support and language promotion activity in Shigatse, Tibet autonomous region.
The volunteer teaching group brought various courses for multiple primary and secondary schools in Shigatse. These courses include classes on Han-Tibetan ethnic cultural exchanges, reading classes, handicraft classes, and art classes.
Prof.Chen Xiaolong, first prize winner of the National College Young Teachers Teaching Competition was one of the mentors of the volunteer group. He delivered a lecture titled Three Questions about Electrical Energy to students at the First Primary School in Samdrub Tse District. He explained the knowledge related to batteries, power plants, and electrical systems, allowing the children to have a clear understanding of where the electricity that powers their homes comes from. “I hope to enhance the children's awareness of electrical safety from a safety perspective,” said Chen.
At Shigatse’s Qingdao Elementary School, Ding Lin, a postgraduate student, shared with students the inspiring life story of Gui Haichao, the first payload expert of the Chinese space station. “I try to give kids a general view about human being’s brave inquiry of the unknown space and with Gui’s story, encourage them to dream big and study hard,” Ding noted.
“The students kept waving goodbye to us. It’s very touching.” Lv Chenhao, Class 2025, posted in his Wechat moments after he finished his first teaching class, “I felt like becoming one piece of the white clouds in this 4000-meter high plateau and propelled more clouds to drift towards the untouched.”
It’s learned that the team also carried out a "Rural Revitalization Program by Language Promotion." They combined Mandarin training with vocational skills related to rural agriculture and animal husbandry, e-commerce, handicrafts, tourism and wellness, cultural creativity, as well as healthcare knowledge and legal literacy. This combination of skills is supposed to fully explore the available resources and bring tangible benefits to the local community.
“We hope to turn this voluntary teaching practice into a long-term commitment and use our education source to help the development of Tibet,” said He Liqian, head of the volunteer group and a school official from Tianjin University. According to him, Tianjin University set several student practise bases in Shigatse and will organize student volunteers to do voluntary teaching during vacations every year.
By Eva Yin
