China promotes digital education in poor regions

China's educational authorities have unveiled measures to train teachers and improve infrastructure for digital education in impoverished areas.

The Ministry of education will hold digital education training programs for the management staff and headmasters of primary and middle schools in poverty-stricken areas, according to a directive issued earlier this week by the general office of the ministry.

It will organize donations of digital teaching equipment and sharing of high-quality digital education resources and services, the document said.

Around 1 million tailored mobile phones, which carry particular apps for learning Mandarin, will be distributed to impoverished areas.

The Open University of China, a new type of university supported by modern information technologies, will assist building 40 "cloud classrooms" for poverty-stricken areas, it said.

Digital courses will be provided for primary and middle schools in the regions and local faculty will receive technical guidance to improve the efficiency of using these resources.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)