China has taken several steps toward building a large and quality team of teachers over the past five years, including free education programs that trained more than 50,000 rural educators, the Ministry of Education said on Monday.
As of 2014, China had 15 million teachers across the country, 1 million more than in 2010, the ministry said in a report.
Fifty-six percent of primary and middle school teachers are under 40 years old and 72 percent of university teachers are under 45, indicating a younger and more vigorous workforce compared to 2010, the ministry said.
The ministry also said more than 50,000 teachers were trained for rural schools under free education programs over the past few years.
From 2010 to 2015, six teachers colleges administered by the ministry — including Beijing Normal University, Central China Normal University in Wuhan, Hubei province, and East China Normal University in Shanghai — recruited more than 50,000 students. The students received a free education and were dispatched to jobs at primary and middle schools in rural areas.
