Wang Guocai, from Jishishan County, was one of the first officials to be trained as a GBEP inspector and during the project life did much to bring inspection and school development planning together.
Now as one of the key technical staff in the Jishishan Education Bureau, he is leading the county inspection team and sustaining the GBEP model.
When we meet with Wang Guocai, he comments that the GBEP “bottom-up” inspection style is much friendlier. The inspectors are not there to find issues in the schools, but to help headteachers and teachers to find solutions to any issues themselves. Inspectors spend at least 50% of their time observing classroom teaching (aiming to cover all teachers and most subjects) – the focus is on helping teachers rather than ticking compliance boxes. He believes that the GBEP inspection model is more effective as it acts as a partnership rather than top-down checking.
Wang Guocai tells us that GBEP changed him personally and professionally. Before GBEP, he was very shy and lacked confidence. Working alongside the project consultants, he began to understand that the process of doing things properly is as important as the final results. His self-confidence was built up gradually with GBEP’s capacity building activities. Today, he is very confident and feels comfortable sustaining GBEP initiatives without any further consultancy support.