Children-friendly schooling, as UNICEF defines it, entails five broad dimensions: inclusiveness; academic effectiveness; health, safety and protection; gender equality; and the involvement of students, families and communities.

At least 34 detailed measurements have also been made, such as whether the school makes all children feel equal regardless of their socio-economic and cultural backgrounds; whether the school encourages children to practice observational skills, plan experiments and explore different answers to their own questions; whether the school has safe drinking water; and whether the teachers and school officials interact with community members.

Anjana Mangalagiri, chief of the education and child development department of UNICEF's China Office, said the program emphasizes child-centered and activity-based teaching and learning processes to help children fully develop their potential.

"The framework will focus on the change of the traditional model of teaching and teachers' attitudes," Mangalagiri said. "So training for teachers and headmasters serves as a starting point."

Such efforts have been recognized by China's top education authorities. According to an agreement released in September between UNICEF and the Ministry of Education, children-friendly schooling will be promoted to about 1,000 rural primary schools in 10 western provinces and autonomous regions in the next five years.

Mangalagiri said UNICEF decided to conduct the program in poor western China because officials want to demonstrate that "even based on the existing facilities, school quality could be improved with advanced educational ideas."

Tang Jingwei, director of the ministry's in-service teacher training division, said the division would also include the ideas of care, equality and children-centered schooling in teachers' training nationwide.

He said such ideas are in line with China's national vision of "caliber-oriented education" aimed at enhancing comprehensive ability of students, and the ongoing national curriculum reform, which stresses the necessity of shifting from teacher-centered and passive learning to interactive and co-operative learning.

"With the improvement of ideas, I'm sure schools will be friendlier and set up more facilities for the weak and the handicapped," Tang said.

Perhaps children like He Shun and Cao Xiaoyan may never understand the significance of the change, but what they do know and feel is that they are happier learning now than they've ever been before.

(China Daily November 27, 2006)