Formula for schools' scientific success

A top body in science and technology — the World Laureates Association High School League — which consists of China's leading high schools, was established in Shanghai recently to boost the appeal of science, as well as to achieve enhanced sci-tech self-reliance and strength.

Three campus tours were held for the world's leading laureates at Chinese high schools where they interacted with the students.

And the WLA Sci-T Conference, held annually for outstanding high school students and freshmen from all over the world, has become a platform for cultivating the next generation of scientists, according to the Shanghai center of the association.

The report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has given priority to the development of education, and urges the speeding up of work to build a strong educational system, and greater scientific and technological strength. It says the country will continue its efforts to cultivate talent.

The report also stresses that, by 2035, the country will significantly increase its economic strength, scientific and technological capabilities, and will join the ranks of the world's most innovative countries, with greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology.

At the fifth World Laureates Forum held from Nov 3-7, the WLA High School League, formed by the country's 13 top high schools including Shanghai High School, the High School affiliated to Renmin University of China, Shenzhen Middle School and Chongqing Bashu Secondary School, was officially established.

"The establishment of the WLA High School League will help introduce frontier scientific ideas to talented youth, harness their potential in the world of science and improve their ability to think on their own," said secretary-general of the WLA Shanghai Center Yu Licheng.

The fifth World Laureates Forum featured 60 top scientists from more than 20 countries and regions, including 27 Nobel Prize laureates. It held a total of 21 events covering a wide range of fields, such as digitalization, green development and young scientist cultivation.

In the past five years, the forum, an annual gathering in Shanghai for top scientists from around the world, has been a platform to share their latest findings in basic science and scientific solutions to cutting-edge issues.

"Old scientists are like spokesmen, but it's the young people who are the future," said Michael Levitt, 2013 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and vice-chairman of WLA.

"One of the key missions of the association is to inspire and support the growth of the young generation in sci-tech," said Yu, adding that the recent forum launched a training program called "Next-generation Scientists" for innovative students, aiming to promote their research level and scientific literacy with professional training for one year.

Moreover, from October to November, Levitt, 1994 Fields Medal Laureate Efim Zelmanov and 2006 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and chairman of the WLA Roger Kornberg, visited Shanghai High School, No 2 High School of East China Normal University and Shenzhen Middle School, respectively, and had in-depth communication with the students.

"More scientists and experts are to be invited in the near future," Yu said.

"What we've been doing is highly consistent with the league's mission, which is to sow the seeds of science and technology among Chinese teenagers," said Li Xiaoke, headmaster of Chongqing Bashu Secondary School. "We are striving to become a cradle for the next generation of scientists."

As the only high school from China's southwestern city of Chongqing to be enrolled in the league, Bashu has been named among the "National Top 10 Science and Technology Innovation Schools" and was listed in the first batch of Education Informatization Pilot Schools by the Ministry of Education, according to Li.

He said the school has won three consecutive academic Olympiads. In the past seven years, the school has gained fruitful sci-tech achievements — winning 230 first prizes and 150 second prizes in multiple international and national sci-tech competitions, and a total of 1,233 prizes in similar competitions of provincial level or above. More than 100 students from the school have entered the world's top universities.

Li said that, to raise the interest and awareness of young students in science and technology, each year, in December, the campus holds an annual science festival. Regularly, scientists and experts from home and abroad, as well as alumni, are invited to give in-person science popularization lectures to the teenagers, covering a wide range of topics, such as bird diversity, sericulture and Chinese herbal medicine.

To further promote the popularization of science and science education, the school has established a growing team of instructors — 11 full-time sci-tech tutors and more than 50 teachers who serve as part-time tutors.

And training has been provided for them.

Li said that the school is planning to explore smart education with a digital learning platform utilizing 5G technology, which will help allocate multiple educational resources including science and technology for regions in need and promote equality in education.