Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

Editor's Note:

National support for Xizang's development has yielded remarkable achievements. Over the decades, numerous volunteers from across China have come to Xizang, making indispensable contributions to the region's growth. Their efforts focus on various fields such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure. Despite harsh conditions, these volunteers persevere in their roles, writing chapters of endeavor on the snowy plateau. Each diary they pen serves as a vivid testament to the building of the Chinese national community. Against this backdrop, the Global Times launches the "My Xizang Diary" series, presenting firsthand reflections from these dedicated volunteers. This is the first piece of the series.

This year marks my fifth year serving as the lead instructor for the Xizang internship program at Shaanxi Normal University (SNNU). Over the past 15 years, this program has dispatched more than 1000 senior-year students to Xizang for teaching practicum and educational support. Having leading successive groups in this program, I have developed a profound affection for the "snowy plateau region."

Xizang has a brief summer break, with the academic year starting early. We usually arrive at local schools around August 20 and stay until the end of November. In these 100-plus days each year, I have witnessed young students from SNNU shed their initial awkwardness at the lectern, grow into teachers and plant seeds of hope in Xizang. 

Children in Xizang possess the purest thirst for knowledge. In their bones lie the resilience and openness. Every day, as our volunteer teachers step into the classroom, we are greeted with the children's enthusiastic and warm welcomes. During the break, they gather around us, with textbooks in hand, eager to ask questions, and sometimes offer a small snack to us. Here, teachers and students become each other's light.

With vast territories and sparse populations, many children from pastoral areas must traverse mountains and travel for hours to get to school. Boarding schools have become a crucial safeguard for access to education. Here, teachers have dual responsibilities - not only to teach, but also to care for students' daily lives. In some remote areas, high altitude and thin air test both physical endurance and mental resilience, yet we have never diminished the shared determination to uphold education. 

Shortages of teachers in mathematics, science and foreign languages, along with the need to update teaching methodologies, remain key challenges as education in Xizang strives for higher quality development. For example, a primary school in Baga township, located in Ngari prefecture, sits at an altitude of 4,700 meters. Its students are relatively weak in mathematics, and are in need of professional guidance. A volunteer teacher at this primary school recently told me that he has shifted from teaching politics to mathematics, hoping to help address subject gaps among the local children. The significance of educational support for Xizang lies in responding to real needs and expectations. While individual efforts may be limited, collective dedication can build a lasting impact. 

Education in Xizang has always advanced through perseverance while seeking breakthroughs. Our volunteer teachers bring innovative teaching methods into the classroom. To spark interest in English, we play animated videos and songs before class, using interactive games to overcome the lack of a language environment. To address weaknesses in mathematics and science, we design examples rooted in local life. 

Nyima Phentok, vice principal of Lhasa No.2 Senior High School, once remarked that volunteer teachers of SNNU have infused fresh vitality into the school's teaching staff, introducing the latest pedagogical methods and educational philosophies from normal universities. 

Teaching in Xizang may differ from what many imagine. More often than not, there are no dramatic "against-the-odds" victories or legendary leaps from failing grades to perfection. The deeper meaning of teaching support lies in the holistic cultivation of character and development, which requires commitment and perseverance.

A hundred days of teaching support may not immediately transform every student's academic performance, but it can plant seeds of aspiration, helping children understand that knowledge can lead them beyond the mountains and toward a broader world. 

Moreover, the influence of teaching support flows in both directions. Educational support for Xizang also enables our volunteer teachers to gain a deeper understanding of the region's distinctive learning conditions, guiding some to choose to stay in Xizang as educators after graduation and allowing them to quickly grow into a core force advancing education-driven development in the region. 

The significance of educational support for Xizang lies in illuminating one light with another, ensuring that every child in the region has access to high-quality education, and that knowledge becomes a force for building their homeland. By crossing mountains and rivers, we hope to serve as bridges and bonds, allowing the flame of education to be passed down through the generations on this snowy plateau region, and enabling this land to flourish with renewed vitality through the nourishment of knowledge.

The author is an associate professor at the School of International Studies at Shaanxi Normal University and lead instructor for the Xizang Education Practicum Program of SNNU. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn