Today, Zhang Bangxin, CEO of TAL Education Group, shared his insights on the company's first "Smart Education Demonstration School" project at Suiyuan Experimental School in Song County, Luoyang City, Henan Province. Zhang believes that education in poverty-stricken areas has the opportunity to achieve a "come-from-behind victory" through technological means.

TAL Education Group's Research and Development Team Expected to Exceed 10,000 People in the Next Three Years 

Zhang revealed that TAL Education Group is currently making significant investments in research and development. The company is expected to spend over a billion yuan on research and development in the next year, having already invested in areas such as the internet, artificial intelligence, and neuroscience. The content development and technology research and development team consists of about 4,000 people and is expected to grow to 10,000 people in the next three years. "Overall, education requires a high density of talent and intellectual input. We hope to use technology to make breakthroughs in this area," Zhang said, elaborating that this is the reason why the company has been focused on the "big backend and small frontend" approach.

In addition, drawing from TAL Education Group's development experience, Zhang summarized the company's transition from home tutoring to coaching classes, then to Xueersi, and eventually to TAL Education Group. He explored the three basic elements of learning: the first is learning motivation, which is an individual's internal desire to learn; the second is the learning environment, which is external and pertains to whether the environment is supportive or not; the third is learning ability, which involves the child's inherent capabilities.

Regarding the collaboration between TAL Education Group and Suiyuan Experimental School in Song County, Zhang believes that the main focus is on addressing the first issue—the problem of teaching motivation.

Zhang stated, "Providing fair and high-quality education is quite challenging. Education is not like producing smartphones on an assembly line. Education, similar to a living organism, requires nurturing and growth." TAL Education Group uses tiered teaching and open classes for parents to ensure teaching quality.

Opportunities and Challenges of the Suiyuan School Project in Song County

Zhang gained three insights from the Suiyuan project.

First, education inspires confidence with love and awakens the soul with the soul. 

Second, good education is achieved through the unity of various forces. Suiyuan Experimental School is a nine-year compulsory education public boarding school funded by the government and sponsored by the Yan Ai Foundation in Hong Kong. Zhang believes that while capital investment is important, the more crucial aspect is the investment of time from various parties including the school and teachers.

Third, education in poverty-stricken areas has the chance to achieve a "come-from-behind victory." "It's difficult to cultivate habits, and even more difficult to change them. From the beginning, Suiyuan School has been using information technology, giving them a very high starting point."

At the same time, the school also faces some challenges. 

Zhang pointed out that first and foremost, the school's teaching and research are relatively weak and need to be strengthened. "Teaching and research are fundamental, and information technology tools are just leverage." 

Secondly, the school lacks basic resources. Zhang believes that basic resources are more suitable for large and medium-sized cities because they have been more advanced in information technology. For example, ten years ago, teachers in these areas already understood how to upload resources to the internet, whereas in Song County, the level of information technology is relatively behind, so some resources may not necessarily match.

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