Dedicated to promoting a quality and balanced education, Licang district in Qingdao, Shandong province, has spared no effort in improving in fields including infrastructure and teaching management.

Since 2017, Licang district has built a total of 19 public schools and kindergartens, providing 13,000 enrollment places. It is investing about 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) in constructing another 35 schools and kindergartens.

These are expected to cover an area of 880,000 square meters and create 27,000 enrollment places in a bid to help to release the pressure of a "school and kindergarten crunch".

Using its teaching strengths, Licang district has focused on conducting training for teachers.

In 2018, the district launched a project to boost the leadership skills of principals.

The move encouraged a total of 45 local primary and secondary schools to conduct exchanges with counterparts across the country in more than 20 cities including Beijing and Chongqing, to share experiences in fields including teaching and school management.

Liu Yanlin, principal from Qingdao Zaoshan Primary School, said: "Since 2018, some of our teachers have toured the quality teaching winner Xiejiawan Primary School in Chongqing, to conduct exchanges in basic education.

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"We have been inspired by the school's distinctive courses such as floral art and debating."

Through learning the experiences of the teaching team at Xiejiawan, Liu said his school has developed creative courses such as tailoring and artificial intelligence.

In addition, the art team from the school designed a puppetry course, winning a prize for its excellence in Qingdao in 2019, according to Liu.

In 2019, the district government signed an agreement with Qingdao No 2 Middle School and Qingdao Experimental Junior High School of Shandong province to launch branch schools in the district. Qingdao No 2 Middle School opened in autumn and the experimental branch is expected to be completed this year, according to the district.

The public have high requirements on the quality of education, which is a major issue in Licang district's education, said Su Mingyu, director of the teaching and research office at the education research and development center of Licang district.

Teaching and research staff members at the center spend at least three days a week to guide teaching plans for schools in the district, as part of their effort to battle for top students, Su said.

The district is also conducting course exploration at its Experimental Junior High School.

It is forming a teaching pattern that provides students with tailor-made courses.

These courses are aimed at developing students' self-learning capabilities and helping them find the fun in learning.

According to Su, such a move has helped the district to achieve a higher enrollment rate year by year.

Licang district is striving to develop education by focusing on quality teaching and school construction, said Wang Xiaoguang, Party secretary and director of the Licang education and sports bureau, which aims to "respond to people's expectations".

With Licang's constant efforts in improving education, the district is sure to bring people a sense of achievement and confidence, Wang said.