Guo Meiyang, deputy to the 14th Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress, top teacher in Zhejiang and a research officer on primary school English with the Wuxing district education bureau in Huzhou city. [Photo by Xu Xuechun/Tide News]

"The implementation of the 'double reduction' policy has raised requirements for the quality of education and teaching. To stimulate initiative among teachers, a good environment conducive to teaching should be created for them," said Guo Meiyang, a deputy to the 14th Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress, on Jan 23, referring to the policy introduced nationwide to ease the burden of excessive homework and off-campus tutoring on students.

Guo is a top teacher in Zhejiang and a research officer on primary school English with the Wuxing district education bureau in Huzhou city.

During this year's Zhejiang provincial "two sessions", she planned to propose alleviating the workload at primary and secondary schools that is not teaching-related or educational.

Guo noticed during her research that some primary and secondary schools are facing issues such as staff shortages, overworked teachers, and high pressure.

"Being a frontline teacher is fulfilling because you get to accompany children in their growth. But they also face extreme pressure," she said.

To reduce the burden of non-teaching work, Guo suggested that tasks genuinely requiring school attention and coordination, such as food safety and waste classification, should be retained and supported. Repetitive assessment items should be optimized and merged. Activities that do not substantially contribute to improving educational quality should be reduced.

Additionally, Guo believed that integrating courses, such as those on ethics, civic education, and art, with lectures by experts or organizing field trips for students can prove to be a more optimal arrangement for non-teaching work.