Shenzhen’s senior-most government official, Wang Rong, called to make teaching the most envied job in the city ahead of Teacher’s Day which fell September 10, according to Southern Metropolis Daily.

In remarks made at an awards ceremony to recognise outstanding teachers, Wang said that measures should be made to encourage respect for teachers and make it a more satisfying job. These would include salary increases to keep more in the profession.

Wang Rong

Awards given out at the ceremony included “Model Teacher,” “10 Outstanding Principals,” and “10 Outstanding Young Teachers.” The head teacher of Luohu Foreign Languages School Yuan Liang was among the winners.

Wang said that as Shenzhen leads the way in China’s transition from an economy built on cheap manufacturing to a knowledge economy, teachers would be at the forefront of this effort.

One teacher named Zhang Hong complained of low pay, brutal hours, and pressure from parents, adding that being expected to be at the forefront of social change simply meant more pressure.

A middle school teacher surnamed Tian complained that in addition to the pressure of getting students through exams, the pressure of being responsible for the safety of all students in her class was enormous.

It was announced that every teacher who stayed in the profession for over a year would receive a salary increase of 100 yuan and every teacher who stayed for three years would receive an increase of 300 yuan.

However, Zhang Hong has been in the profession for over 10 years and her salary is only 3300 yuan.

A 2007 study showed that job satisfaction is low among teachers in Shenzhen and little appears to have improved since.