Xianyang Foping, located deep in the Qinling Mountains, is a small county town. Despite its unparalleled natural beauty, it carries the label of a nationally designated impoverished county and lags behind in terms of education compared to other areas.

As a responsible educational technology enterprise, in 2016, TAL Education Group entered Foping, a targeted poverty alleviation area under the direction of the Central Cyberspace Administration of China, to carry out targeted assistance work. Since October 2016, volunteers from the TAL Education Group's Xi'an Center have "entered and exited" Foping three times, engaging in a series of educational public welfare activities, including the establishment of a "Future Classroom," student training, and teacher training. These hard efforts have won widespread praise from local educational authorities, media, and schools.

Xian volunteers at Foping carry out public welfare support and education activities. After a student training session, Xian volunteer teacher Lu Xiao posted a letter on her WeChat Moment that moved all the volunteers.

Letter from Foping children to volunteer teachers at Xi'an TAL Education Center. In the "three entries and one exit" to Foping, the TAL Education Group's Xi'an volunteer teacher team showed a tender heart and made every possible effort to promote education around the center. What's more, by relying on a unique understanding and exploration of public welfare, combined with the group's own teaching advantages, they have developed a unique "Foping Educational Public Welfare Model," making educational public welfare a sustainable venture. One entry into Foping

Conducting research and preparing teaching based on the students' level

Foping education leaders and volunteer teachers from the TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch held in-depth discussions on local education issues. In October 2016, TAL's Xi'an Center and Foping County in Shaanxi Province collaborated on an educational information project. They later conducted research on the local education levels of elementary and secondary schools and had in-depth discussions with education leaders. Teachers in charge of the research wrote reports late into the night, and in the early morning, they held an analysis meeting with Foping education leaders, clearly displaying the areas that needed adjustments in the direction of education.

Volunteer teachers from TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch visited Foping to research the local education situation. After the research, the Xi'an branch's partners had a deep understanding of the local education situation in Foping. To ensure the smooth implementation of future educational work in Foping, volunteer teachers Qi Shaofeng and Gu Xiaofeng visited and inspected the student's knowledge base. The volunteer teachers thus understood the students' level and, without delay, began to develop teaching materials and personalized learning plans for the winter training session, bringing Foping a brand new teaching experience with their most real teaching skills. Two entries into Foping

Carrying out winter vacation training and cultivating dreams for the "Future Classroom"

Volunteer teachers from TAL Education Group's "Future Classroom" project in Foping

On February 4, 2017, three volunteers from the TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch, Xu Liuying, Lu Xiao, and Tian Ying, entered Foping County to participate in the "Same Classroom, Education Informatization" program of the Good Future Public Welfare Fund. They conducted a six-day winter vacation training session for high school students at Foping County Middle School.

The "Future Classroom" project started in Foping. At the opening ceremony of the "Future Classroom" winter vacation on February 5, students shared their dreams and goals for college entrance examinations. They expressed their aspirations to study at Xi'an Jiaotong University, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Shaanxi Normal University, and Chang'an University, among others. Teachers Xu Liuying and Lu Xiao from TAL Education in Xi'an respectively analyzed the English and math questions from the college entrance exams in Shaanxi and shared techniques to master key exam points.

Wang Guirong, the principal of Foping County Middle School, said, "As Foping is located in the mountainous area, economic and educational development is limited. The high-quality educational resources and advanced educational concepts brought by TAL Education's volunteers have greatly benefited us. Foping Middle School has been fully supportive of the joint efforts with TAL Education Group to make Foping's education better." Three entries into Foping

Training high school seniors and nurturing through example

Volunteer teachers from TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch held a themed class meeting on "College and Dreams" for the children. On April 10, 2017, a team of 14 volunteers from TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch went on a self-drive to Foping to carry out a five-day educational exchange activity for high school seniors. They consolidated the students' knowledge with training courses and taught them self-confidence through example.

The volunteer teachers from TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch diligently practice chalkboard teaching. On April 11, in a packed "Future Classroom," volunteer teachers began to teach in earnest. Not used to teaching with chalkboards during their usual classes, some teachers practiced silently in empty classrooms to avoid affecting the class. Their dedication and passion not only inspired the students but also deeply impressed the local teachers who attended the class.

Different from regular training sessions, the teachers from the Xi'an branch persisted in the belief of "giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him how to fish." They changed the children's perception by sharing their own experiences, making them understand the importance of striving and appreciating the value of a university education. An exit from Foping

Foping teachers participate in hands-on training at the TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch

Foping teachers visited the TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch to participate in a hands-on training program. On August 6, 2017, four Foping teachers were invited to the TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch to participate in a 7-day hands-on training program. During this time, the Foping teachers visited live classrooms, dual-teacher studios, dual-teacher classrooms, and the IPS teaching department of TAL Education, experiencing the forefront of teaching methods and equipment.

Teachers from the TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch and Foping teachers share and exchange during the graduation ceremony. On the final day, the Foping teachers shared their learning experiences over the week. They appreciated the dedication and classroom atmosphere of the TAL teachers. They praised the teaching system and curriculum of the TAL Education system and hoped to share more quality resources in Foping in the future.

The creation of an educational public welfare model in Foping bears extraordinary social significance. In the targeted poverty alleviation of Foping County, three-party collaboration of educational enterprises, government, and schools in TAL Education's nearby support, guided by the Central Cyberspace Administration, and coordinated by Foping County's deputy county magistrate, has been initiated.

In addition, TAL Education has summarized a classic and efficient project operation model from its public welfare educational actions in Foping: preliminary research and development of educational action plans, TAL Education's Xi'an branch's nearby support, and regular follow-ups by the TAL Education Public Welfare Foundation.

Radiating the surrounding areas with educational public welfare

Donating books, supporting education, and developing a 5-year public welfare plan

It's worth mentioning that the TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch has not limited the scope of its educational public welfare activities to Foping, but has also brought the enthusiasm for public welfare to other surrounding areas in need of support. They have engaged in various activities such as donating books, supporting education, and developing a 5-year public welfare plan. As these activities progress, TAL Education's public welfare concept has gradually become ingrained in the minds of TAL's parents and students.

The TAL Education Group's teachers at the Luoyu School carried out donation activities. On October 24, 2016, TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch partners went to Luoyu School in Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi Province, to donate learning materials to students at the school and to teach in the classroom, introducing TAL's educational concepts and methods to local teachers for mutual exchanges and learning.

On May 23, 2017, the children of Danyang Village Primary School in Zhuyu Town, Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi Province, received a special Children's Day gift. Eight teachers from the TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch, together with eight lawyers from the Xi'an Haipu Rui Cheng Law Firm, entered the campus to conduct public support and education activities, while also carrying out a legal knowledge lecture for the children. This was the Xi'an branch's first time involving social forces, not only bringing advanced educational concepts and methods, but also introducing campus safety and legal awareness to the campus.

The children of Danyang Elementary School listened carefully to the legal knowledge lecture brought by the TAL Education Group and the Haipu Rui Cheng Law Firm. To call for more social forces to participate in educational public welfare activities, the TAL Education Group together with the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the Hope Project, the Shaanxi Youth Development Fund, the Xi'an Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League, as well as various county committees, education bureaus, initiated the "525 Public Welfare Education Assistance Plan" in October. The plan is divided into three parts:

The first part is a book donation plan of approximately 50,000 copies over 5 years, establishing a TAL library;

The second part is a 5-year training program for 25 young teachers from 25 impoverished counties in Shaanxi;

The third part is five entries with at least 25 TAL teachers engaging in public welfare support education activities in mountainous areas over 5 years.

Shaanxi government awarded TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch the title of "Caring Unit" On October 23, the "Shaanxi Hope Project cares for left-behind children—TAL 525 Public Welfare Education Assistance Plan Book Donation Ceremony" was held at Dongdajian Elementary School in Zhongnan Town, Zhouzhi County. The Xi'an branch of the TAL Education Group donated nearly 7,000 books to the school and established the "TAL Loving Library." A 4th-grade student at Dongdajian Elementary School expressed gratitude to the volunteers: "Thank you for donating books to us, uncles and aunties. We will watch these books grow in the future!"
 

The TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch carried out a book donation activity at Wulian Elementary School. On October 27, in response to the call by the Education Bureau of Lianhu District, Xi'an City, for social forces to participate in social poverty alleviation, the TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch took the initiative to contact the Lianhu Education Bureau and together entered into Zhouzhi County's Wulian Elementary School to carry out a book donation activity.

The TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch joined forces with the "Sister Zhou, Help Me" program to help "almost college students" work diligently and study frugally. The TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch also cooperated with the "Sister Zhou, Help Me" program on Shaanxi Television to provide job opportunities for needy "almost college students," encouraging them to work at the Xi'an branch during the summer. This not only helped the graduating students solve their tuition problems but also taught them independence and allowed them to grow.

Regarding future public welfare education plans, volunteer teachers from the TAL Education Group's Xi'an branch stated, "We want to put every seed of education resources into the land that needs them. We hope to be able to spread these successful experiences to every TAL branch and, relying on the 'Hope Online' (www.xiwang.com) public welfare education platform, contribute to achieving balanced education."