Local students are going to hold their own miniature cultural fair with the help of the local government, after having been inspired by the 9th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF) that was held in Shenzhen in mid-May.

    It’s not the first time the students have gotten such inspiration.

    When the city hosted the 26th Universiade in 2011, Shenzhen students created tens of thousands of innovative cultural gifts for athletes from around the world. Last year, students at Shenzhen Second Senior High School held a charity sale of innovative cultural products, which sparked ideas to host their own cultural fair. The students then shared their ideas with municipal government officials, in letters, and requested help.

    “We were happily shocked by the creative items on exhibition at the ICIF. We hope to launch a students’ cultural fair to establish a platform to showcase innovations of the more than 1 million Shenzhen middle school students, and even of students across China,” students wrote in a letter.

    Officials soon replied to the letter and praised the students’ sense of social responsibility.

    “It is a precious quality for you to have independent thoughts about society and put forward suggestions for Shenzhen,” Guo Yurong, director of the municipal education bureau, said in a reply to the students.

    The Shenzhen Municipal Educational Science Research Institute is now helping local middle school students realize their dream with detailed plans.

    Encouraged by the support of the government, students began exploring the idea by sending questionnaires and surveys to parents and students at other schools.

    They visited this year’s ICIF and listened to visitors’ opinions and suggestions so they could adopt those ideas into their plan.

    A plan has been worked out to include exhibitions on school education, science and technology, daily life, art and handicrafts, movies and cartoon animation. The exhibition is scheduled to open in the upcoming summer vacation.

    “At first, we will hold our exhibition jointly, in a venue with several other schools. And then we will move to a professional exhibition hall with wider participation and creative works from schools in the city, and then with works from across China when we are more experienced,” student Chen Jianghan said. “We hope China or even the whole world will see the creativity and innovation of Shenzhen students.”

    Li Fengliang, a Shenzhen University administrator and ICIF board member, said the city should spend more on incubating creativity in education. (Zhao Jie)