On Understanding the Movement to Send College Graduates as Volunteer Teachers to Western China

The Western China University Graduates Volunteer Teaching Program (VTP) is a government-oriented social movement aimed at the advancement of social equity and the establishment of a harmonious society. University students, as the undertakers of volunteer teaching, serve as a vital part of this program. The participation of university students has provided a possible way to develop education in western China. The fact that the plan was chiefly the initiative of the government, although giving it political legitimacy, had brought forth such problems as people implementing the program only on a superficial level and confusion and contradictions as to the focus of the program. The future path of the volunteer teaching movement will be as a government-initiated but socially operated movement.