Breaking the threshold of academic qualifications, young carpenter in China becomes college instructor

"Vocational education has not only enabled me to find the direction in my life, but also changed my fate," said Wang Zongheng, the first college instructor born in the 2000s to take up a role at a vocational technical institute in northeast China's Heilongjiang province.

Wang Zongheng competes in the first National Vocational Skills Competition. (Photo/chinahlj.cn)

In December 2020, 20-year-old Wang, then a student at the Heilongjiang Forestry Vocational-Technical College, competed in the first National Vocational Skills Competition as one of the representatives of Heilongjiang province and won a gold medal in carpentry. That was the only gold medal won by the Heilongjiang delegation at the competition.

After his graduation ceremony held in June, Wang became a practical training instructor at his alma mater. He is also the first post-00s practical training instructor at this college.

Both Wang's great-grandfather and grandfather were carpenters. Under the influence of his family, Wang became interested in carpentry when he was a little boy. But after his studies at college, Wang found that the specialist courses were different from his previous exposure to woodworking. "Traditional carpentry is not so strict about data, whereas in the professional circuit the seam size cannot be off by a hair's breadth," Wang said.

To improve his professional skills, Wang ensured that he was the first to arrive at the practical training base and the last to leave every day. He even made use of his sleeping time to study the drawings he didn't understand earlier in the day. For him, it was not uncommon to go to bed at two or three o'clock at night. In just one year, Wang's weight dropped from 110 kg to 80 kg.

Through his tireless efforts, Wang finally became a member of the teaching staff of his alma mater.

Many of his schoolmates expressed their disbelief. Remarks like "this teacher is surprisingly only just two years older than me" and "this post-00 teacher is in the same picture with his post-00 students" appeared from time to time.

Wang is not the first graduate to teach at the Heilongjiang Forestry Vocational-Technical College. Back in 2017, the college proposed to make skilled talents stay at the campus. Xu Yan, a post-95 young man, and the woodworking project winner at the 44th World Skills Competition, as well as Wang's practical training instructor, was the first graduate of the Heilongjiang Forestry Vocational-Technical College to stay and teach at their alma mater.

"For excellent and experienced artisans like Xu and Wang, we must break the 'threshold' of academic qualifications to make them contribute to the development of Heilongjiang. So that they can help us train more great artisans," said Zhang Zhigang, the dean of the School of Home Engineering, Heilongjiang Forestry Vocational-Technical College.