China Confucius Foundation (CFC) has opened the first school for migrant workers in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, to enrich their lives and the lives of their children's with traditional wisdom.
"Master said 'Is it not pleasant to learn and practice what you have learnt?'" dozens of workers chanted the Confucius masterpiece at the school's inauguration at the real estate construction site developed by Shandong Sanjian Group on Monday.
"With the classes, CFC hopes to promote Confucius values, which put a great emphasis on family and domestic harmony, among the migrant workers and their kids," said CFC secretary-general Wang Daqian.
By CFC definition, Confucius schools are not conventional education facilities, but a platform where the CFC brought Confucius books and teaching.
Wang said the school offers literature teaching for migrant workers and similar courses for their children on winter and summer vacations. The classes are given at the construction site, and will be moved to the company's next project site, after this project is finished.
China has 200 million farmer-turned-migrant workers doing labor work in cities, where affordable cultural and entertainment activities for them are scarce. Very often their children are out of school and join their parents at work.
Headquartered in Shandong, CFC with over 100 facilities is ambitious to revive the Confucius teaching by setting up 10,000 Confucius Schools across China.
Earlier this month, another Confucius school was opened at a drug rehabilitation center.
Shandong is the hometown of Confucius temple, family mansion and cemetery. The Chinese have revered Confucius and followed his teachings for centuries. He is respected as "the teacher of all teachers," and children learn to recite his quotes at a very young age.
