From March 15th to March 18th, 30 teachers and students from Yiling Senior Middle School went to Beijing to participate in the China Conference of the 9th Model United Nations (MUN) General Assembly hosted by Harvard University. In the conference, representing diplomats from different countries, students from Yichang and other high school students across the globe got together for in-depth discussion and debate on the most pressing and complex challenges facing our society.

　　According to the official of Education Bureau, Yichang has attached great importance to educational foreign affairs and has taken the orderly initiative to open-up to the outside world. At present, 47 schools have carried or been carrying out international educational exchange programs with 16 foreign countries, forming 45 pairs of sister schools.

　　Sticking to open education and building up featured foreign languages high schools, Yichang has established Foreign Languages High School in last year for training talented foreign languages professionals, endeavored to construct a national first-class prestigious school with distinctive characteristics and international influence. At present, two small languages classes in French and Japanese have been set up, with 85 students taking the courses. Yichang Foreign Languages High School has actively cooperated with Foreign Languages School of China Three Gorges University to strengthen the training of foreign languages teachers and further enhance sharing of the high-quality teaching resources. Several functional rooms have been built including small languages laboratories, world geographic function rooms, international conference simulation halls and etc. Besides, solid partnerships have been established with many schools in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan.

　　Efforts have also been made to broaden the channels for foreign exchange and expand the exchange of achievements in education. In 2016, the eighth Session of Confucius Class in Germany was held in Yiling Senior Middle School. In March of last year, Yichang organized a Seminar of Sino-U.S. Principals’ New Thinking in Education. Six middle school principals and school representatives from New York, Chicago and other places had a face to face discussion with over ten Yichang famous teachers, school principals, and educational experts. Six groups of over 500 Hong Kong high school students have been organized to tour around, experience and communicate with teachers and students in Yiling Senior Middle School, Yichang No.1 Senior High School and Gezhouba Senior High School. Yichang officials showed the Arizona delegation around Yichang No.1 Senior High School and Yichang No.6 Senior High School, and arranged for the American student representatives to stay at Yichang students’ home to experience Yichang's native culture. And it has also organized the chief officials in charge of vocational schools to attend a 14-day high-level training in teaching management in Germany for the first time.

　　Based on people-oriented philosophy, Yichang has made great efforts to standardize the employment and management of foreign teachers. At present, there are 59 foreign experts in Yichang. (Reporter Huang Chunmei and correspondent Li Lei Xiaoling)