The city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province announced on a video-conference on educational reforms, in Harbin on Feb 2, that it plans to combine the educational resources in its various districts to give students more choices.

And it will build around six primary and middle schools to meet the demands of newly developed areas and will improve 30 schools in its older part with better facilities and faculty. To distribute its educational resources more evenly, the city will establish education groups in old parts for sharing and exchanges, with the help of the better schools, which will be encouraged to open branch campuses.

There will also be online courses and training provided by prominent teachers to reach more students in pilot districts and counties, thanks to the information technology and broadband Internet access, where the teachers will share information on lesson planning and teaching methods, which is good news for rural schools.

Harbin also expects to build 15 compulsory education schools and another 15 with a quality-education orientation, to provide better facilities for around 60,000 children of migrant families.

Hongqiao High School and Xuanqing High School, in the city’s Nangang district, were combined with six primary schools last year for the integrated use of better quality educational resources and a curriculum that is vital to Harbin’s education.