Nanhua Primary School in Futian District recently made headlines in local media after it was reported that it named classes after head teachers’ names.

An online poll attended by thousands revealed that 75 percent of the subjects support this practice, saying it helps the teachers and students bond. The rest think the practice is “unnecessary.”

“With their names attached to their class, the teachers will voluntarily take more responsibility for the kids,” one netizen commented. “On the other hand, the kids would feel a bigger sense of belonging and a closer bond with their teacher and class.”

Since many of today’s primary school teachers are young people born in the 1990s, some netizens joked that the classes would likely bear such artsy names as “Zihan” (meaning “purple chill” or “of profound ideas”).

Yu Yunde, headmaster of the school, published an essay explaining his idea in China Education News back in 1999. He started this practice as well as a series of name changes in Nanhua Primary School in 2019 after he was appointed headmaster a few months before.

Teachers and students have grown closer after the name changes.

“It takes us some time to get used to the new names,” said Zhong Yanliu, a head teacher. “But soon we see how it worked. We can’t help feeling more attached to our class and we find ourselves having a bigger influence over the kids.”

The students also like the new name of their class. “We feel a closer bond with our head teacher, and a sense of honor in our class,” said Chen Jiaqi.

The headmaster said he has further plans for the name changing reform. He plans to have fifth and sixth graders vote to decide the name of their class, which could be the name of a favorite teacher, a top student or a role model they agree on.

“The goal is to give students the freedom to choose and inspire them to learn and improve out of their own will,” Yu said.

(Li Dan)