Bai Yunfeng from TAL: Education is our permanent commitment

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Dec 03, 2018, 10:36 ET

BEIJING, Dec. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 3^rd, GES2018 began in Beijing. Over 800 distinguished guests from the global education community gathered at the summit to discuss the future trends of global education through cross-region and cross-cultural discussions. Bai Yunfeng, co-founder and president of TAL attended the summit and gave a speech on the theme "Education is our permanent commitment".

Main views:

Bai Yunfeng, co-founder and president of TAL addressing the summit.

In the past four decades of reform and opening its borders, the development of education in China has been at the forefront of the industry. The evolving educational needs of the 1.3 billion Chinese people are the primary driving force behind the educationaladvancement. The evolving educational outlook of Chinese families is the best and ultimate driving force behind educational innovation.

As the amount of information and knowledge capital continue to rise in China, never in the world has a country or region held such a large group of highly educated people. We can only imagine what kind of changes will happen to the Chinese economy once the innovation potential of these people is unleashed.

Teachers not only need to teach techniques, convey knowledge and answer questions, but also need to inspire, enlighten and encourage. The ultimate goal of education is to help grow the children into caring and trustworthy citizens with integrity, and let them obtain the abilities that will bring a lifetime of happiness.

TAL studies the "science of learning", with the goal of realizing personalized teaching and equal access to education, and equipping students with a scientific learning approach. TAL empowers education with AI to decode the Pandora's box of the learning process, so as to better focus on the fundamentals purpose and needs of education.

In the area of public welfare, TAL acts using the guidance of the CPC Central Committee and engages in targeting poverty alleviation by the means of education. TAL collaborates with other foundations in the sector to promote a balanced and inclusive development for education.

Only less than 1% of the human brain has been developed; our knowledge of the world may also be less than 1%. But we never cease exploring for better education.

Text of the speech based on delivery:

Dear Director Li Wei, Director Zhu, President Dong, Secretary General Lu, distinguished guests,

Good morning.

This year marks the 40^th anniversary of the reform and opening up of China. In the past 40 years, China has made an extraordinary journey, so has the Chinese education.

The important moments in the history of Chinese education

Here I would like to look back on some major moments in Chinese education with you.

Scenario 1: resumption of the college entrance examination

This is the front page of an issue of People's Daily in 1977. During that year, the college entrance examination of China was resumed after 10 years' disruption. Approximately 5.7 million people from factories, villages and the army finally had this hard-won opportunity to sit the exam despite feeling nervous.

Due to the large number of applicants, the country didn't even have enough paper within the short time frame to print the exam papers. The CPC Central Committee then made a swift decision to repurpose the paper for government documents for the exam. I believe all those who have lived through that time would understand how much courage that move needed.

The entrance exam that year was attended by around 5.7 million people. But its influence has reached far beyond that. It has played an underpinning role in the talent accumulation over the past 40 years and the official resumption of the college entrance examination.

Scenario 2: Project Hope

This girl with big bright eyes is Su Mingjuan. This picture has moved many Chinese people. It was used on a poster for Project Hope, a project aiming to help dropout children in impoverished areas to get back to school. Most of the funds for Project Hope comes from non-governmental sources. By 2017, the project has aggregately received 14 billion yuan of donations, which has been used to help 5.75 million students and to build 19,814 primary schools.

Actually, there were three highly popular photos back then, "big eyes", "big voice" and "little bald head". "little bald head" was from a very poor family. When someone saw this picture and offered 300 yuan to this child, he didn't take it because his parents believed that another child's family was even poorer and needed this money more. Thus, they gave up this money to the other child.

Scenario 3: popularization of higher education

Now let's move on to 1999, an important year for higher education in China. After the inauguration of Project 211 in 1995 and Project 985 in 1998, the scale and scope of higher education enrollment was enlarged in 1999, making higher education more accessible. People wanted to not only get into college, but also to attend a good one. More and more people started to study abroad.

The increased enrollment is still a controversial subject in China. But in my view, we should develop education not for today, but for the future. By 2030, 400-430 million of the Chinese people are those born after the year 1990; 250 millions of them will have a higher education background. In other words, China will have a highly-educated population of 250 million. They will be the backbone of our society.

Knowledge density and knowledge capital are rising in China. Never in the world has a country or region owned such a bid group of highly educated population. We can only imagine what kind of changes will happen to the Chinese economy once the innovation potential of these people is released.

Today we are here to discuss how we should develop future-oriented education. That is why GES is so relevant. Its mission is to connect China's education with the world's and produce talented individuals with a global perspective and competitiveness.

The evolving educational needs of the 1.3 billion Chinese people are the primary driving force for educational progress.

Basic education in China - from teaching-focused to character-building-focused and future-oriented.

Children in China these days are more aware of the importance of well-rounded development while paying attention to intelligence development. As we can see, 9-year-old children in some countries are already thinking about what kind of life can be called a happy one.

Scholar and thinker Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty said, "it is the teachers' job to teach methods, impart knowledge and answer questions". But facing the future, we think education should be more than that. Teachers should also inspire, enlighten and encourage. The ultimate goal of education is to grow children into caring and trustworthy citizens with integrity and the ability for lifelong happiness.

The evolving educational outlook of Chinese families is the ultimate driving force behind education innovation.

AI+Education explores the learning science based on the study of scientific learning practices.

Today, as each sector is empowered by the advancement of science and technology, the topic of the significance of education empowerment through science and technology is something we cannot avoid. We should always keep in mind the nature of education no matter how science and technology advances.

Please allow me to cite an example. We have collected data from five students on the precondition that the collection process itself has no impact on the teaching and learning practice in the public schools. Although the figures show the same learning results, does it mean that the students have the same learning ability? The scores of the five students are the same, but with further study on their learning process, we found that their learning abilities actually differ. There are other similar examples. We have compared a child from Shandong and a child from Guangdong. From the assessment of the teaching outcome, their scores are the same. But after analyzing what we call the "six key abilities", we realized that there are huge differences between them in learning process.

The purpose of the research on learning science is to realize personalized teaching and equal access to education. That is exactly what TAL is doing now. We hope to empower education with AI to decode the black box of the educational process, so as to better focus on the fundamental purpose and the needs of education and to help students learn in an effective way based on good science.

TAL is an EdTech company that operates on the basis of smart education and an open platform, providing quality education and after-school tutoring. It serves public education, empowers private education, and explores future education models on a global scale

TAL now has 5000 engineers and researchers working in areas including products, technology and teaching research. It has invested over 1 billion yuan in science and technology and research and development, that figure will grow by multiple folds in the coming two years. TAL has set up joint labs with 6 top universities worldwide. We deem it as our mission to advance education with science and technology.

TAL has been actively engaged in public welfare. Since the initiation of the "Same Class", a project supporting rural schools, TAL has gathered 342 volunteers and 1300 teachers who have completed 181,944 hours of voluntary work, travelled 49,847 kilometers and offered help to 38 primary schools with financial difficulties in 11 provinces and municipalities. The "Hope Online" public platform launched in 2017 has also reached areas including Jimunai in Xinjiang, Xiong'an New Area, Foping in Shaanxi, Wangmo in Guizhou and Daliangshan in Sichuan. TAL acts upon the guidance of the CPC Central Committee and engages in targeted poverty alleviation by means of education, and collaborates with more force for good in the sector to promote a balanced and inclusive development for education.

Go, the Chinese game of Weiqi, is a game reflecting the philosophical wisdom of our ancestors. Every chess piece is the same with others. But today in the 21^st century, we believe that every child is unique and each one of them deserves respect.

Until today, maybe only less than 1% of the human brain has been developed; our knowledge of the world may also be less than 1%. But we will never cease the exploration for better education.

SOURCE TAL Education Group