China launchs national education campaign on Olympics
21/7/2008 17:23
China has launched a nationwide campaign on the Olympics since the country
won the hosting bid for the 2008 Olympic Games on July 13, 2001.
The campaign
has helped popularize the Olympic knowledge and promote the Olympic spirit among
the youth and broaden the students' view and awareness of the sports event, said
Gao Hong, vice director of the Basic Department of the Chinese Ministry of
Education (MOE).
"It (the campaign) also works to encourage the students to
be more involved into the various sports activities and preserve the cultural
heritage of the Games," Gao added.
During the Campaign, 556 model schools
have been established including common and secondary schools, vocational
schools, special education schools, and multi-ethnic schools.
A "heart to
heart" Partnership Program were initiated as a part of the campaign, and more
than 210 primary and secondary schools in Beijing have been partnered with 205
National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and 160 National Paralympic Committees
(NPCs).
The program is composed of exchanging activities, greeting activities
in the Team Welcome Ceremony at the Olympic Village or Paralympic village and
cheer leading activities for their partner delegation at the competitions
venues.
The campaign also successfully integrated Olympic education into
school's normal education, using the school curriculums to improve education on
Olympics and established "an Olympic education mode based on schools".
"Most
importantly, the campaign works effectively to promote the self-inspiration of
the students to better involve into the Olympic Games," said Zhang Tiedao, vice
president of the Beijing Academy of Educational Science.
MOE statistics said,
in the past seven years, about 400 million Chinese young people, especially 230
million primary and secondary students have involved into the campaign.
"This
is a great program. It makes the spread of Olympic values in China much wider
than any other country in the world," said the Olympic Review, the official
publication of the International Olympic Committee.
Xinhua
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