Jack Ma Foundation launches new rural education program

Gu Liping :

The Jack Ma Foundation on Monday announced a new plan to invest at least 300 million yuan (45 million U.S. dollars) to encourage graduates of normal schools to teach in rural areas in the next 10 years.
The first 10 million yuan will be invested in selecting 100 fresh graduates from normal schools in Hunan, Sichuan, Chongqing and Jilin provinces. Each participant will be provided with a 100,000-yuan subsidy for service of five years on end in rural schools
“Rural education will only get better only if we have the best graduates as rural teachers,” said Jack Ma, founder and chairman of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.
Ma, who was an English teacher for seven years in Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province, says he has always valued education, calling himself the “spokesman for rural teachers,” on Weibo, China’s top microblogging site. Ma’s foundation has already initiated two rural education-related programs.
Ma says he believes there are opportunities ahead both for China’s rural education and graduates of normal schools.