Teacher Retention Initiative
1. Improve the Dormitory Condition
2. Build the Teachers' Activity Room
3. Give cash bonus to teachers according to a certain standard
Goal
Students learn better if taught by teachers who know their abilities well, so we hope the initiative helps reduce teachers' turnover rate and helps attract more teachers to teach in rural areas. We hope that students can receive love from a teacher after spending time with this teacher for years.
Current Status of Teacher Activity Room
In October 2022, with the help of the China Council of Lions Club, our proposal was approved by the local government, and the location of the "Teacher Activity Room" was decided. In November 2022, club members designed the floor plan and calculated the budget for the Activity Room. Due to a disagreement on the price between the Lions Club and the local construction team, the construction of the teacher activity room has not yet started. In May 2023, the club members attended a meeting discussing the cash bonus standards for teachers. The standards have been applied since the 23-24 school year.
Implications for future plans
The initiative only addresses three problems: poor dormitory conditions, lack of entertainment, and low salaries, and we need to raise huge amounts of money to fully implement the initiative. This initiative might indirectly reduce another problem, too much workload, because this initiative might help attract more teachers to mountain areas. However, other than those problems, there are many more difficulties faced by teachers in the mountain areas.
According to the survey, due to difficulty in transportation, teachers could not spend time with their families. Thus, in the future, teachers' conditions would be better if we make some changes to allow teachers to live with their family members. Teachers say that shopping and buying daily necessities are inconvenient. Thus, in the future, the local government could build more convenience stores in the mountain areas.