Source: Wang Xingju, Qiaojia County Project Manager

From June 26 to 27, 2023,Chief Representative Meng Weijun and Project Manager Wu Yijun from the Beijing Representative Office of the Lipoid Foundation (Germany) visited the Qiaojia County Preschools of the Future project. They were accompanied by Li Jiancai from the project service center of HPP, Jin Zhongbao, the Secretary of the Dongping Township Central Primary School, and Zhao Yanhai, the Vice principal of the Central School, as well as staff from the office of HPP.

Since 2020, the Beijing Representative Office of the Lipoid Foundation (Germany) has supported six rural preschools in Qiaojia County, benefiting 153 children.

Among them, the Preschools of the Future classes in Shuye and Yangliu villages in Dongping Township started in January 2023. During this visit, the opening ceremony of the project was held for the two classes, and the leaders of the Beijing Representative Office of the Lipoid Foundation (Germany) and the leaders of the central school of Dongping Town were invited to award a plaque to the classes.

In addition, the delegation visited three preschool classes in two sites, Laowu Village and Anjiu Village, and also visited two potential project sites in order to prepare for the next year's project.

Through looking at the hardware facilities, environment creation and corner activities of the preschool classes, watching the teachers' demonstration lessons and interacting with the children, the delegation learned about the daily teaching activities of the preschool classes and the implementation of the project. After comparing with the kindergarten classes that are not reached by the project, the delegation clearly felt the changes and impacts of the project on the preschool classes, the teachers, the children and the parents, and at the same time, laid a certain foundation for the implementation of the new project in the future.

The delegation also had a meeting with parents, teachers and the central school, where these expressed their heartfelt thanks to the Lipoid Foundation for their support of the project and exchanged views on the project implementation and the results achieved.

Among them, Meng Weijun expressed, that this year's newly reached preschool classes have been seen already obvious changes after half a year of project activities. Based on the implementation and management of the "Preschools of the Future" project model, the teachers have gradually become qualified rural preschool teachers, and the environment of the classroom has become more suitable for the learning and development of the preschool class for children between the ages of 3-6 years old, and we believe that the project will be more effective. It is believed that the implementation of the Project will ensure the healthy and happy growth of young children in rural areas.

Jin Zhongbao, the Secretary of Dongping Township Central School, also said that with the support of the Lipoid Foundation, the preschool classes have become more and more rich in materials, and the classrooms have enough teaching aids, which realizes the "child-centered" educational concept of rural early childhood education!

After 3 years of project implementation, preschool classes in Laowu and Anju in Chongxi Township are nearing the end of the project. On the second day, the visiting team went to Laowu and Anju to see the specifics of the project implementation, communicated and shared with the central school, teachers and parents, and also explained about the handover of the preschool class at the end of the project. After preliminary communication with the Bureau of Education and Sports and the central school, the project will sign transfer management regulations with Chongxi Town Central School and Qiaojia County Bureau of Education and Sports to ensure the normal operation of the transferred preschool classes.

At present, the preschool classes have matured under the joint efforts of everyone, and the results achieved have been recognized by the Lipoid Foundation, the central school, parents and the community. Next, after the project is completed and withdrawn, the central school will directly take over the management and operation of the four preschool classes, and continue to lead the preschool classes to a more professional and standardized development according to the original project model.

During this visit, we have gained a concrete understanding of the project's activities before, during and after the implementation of the project.

We would like to express our appreciate to the Beijing Representative Office of the Lipoid Foundation (Germany) for their kind visit and their continuous concern and support for the development of childhood education in the countryside. In the future, HPP will continue to work together with Lipoid Foundation to help children in remote villages grow up healthily and happily, and at the same time obtain high-quality pre-school education services!

Project introduction:

Qiaojia Dongping Township, Yangliu, Shuye, Laowu and Anju Village POF is funded by Lipoid Foundation, and HPP cooperates with Qiaojia Education and Sports Bureau to assist in the implementation. The project takes early education as the entry point, improves the hardware facilities and teaching aids of preschool classes and organizes professional and systematic training for teachers regularly. A play-based curriculum in the five domains is developed around the Learning and Development Guidelines to avoid the tendency to teach in a primary school setting and to achieve the holistic and balanced development of children. The project team regularly supervises preschool classes to help teachers solve difficulties and problems in daily teaching activities. The project focuses on game-based teaching, provides tools such as teacher management kits and teaching materials, improves the coverage of preschool education in rural areas, and improves the quality of preschool education in rural areas, so that more children can receive high-quality preschool education.

This project is supported by the Lipoid Foundation.

This article represents the views of the author and does not represent the views or positions of the donor.