Lingnan Normal University [Photo by Chen Mingli]

Lingnan Normal University, with a history going back more than 100 years, is a provincial university. The campus covers an area of 80 hectares (800,000 square meters), including 570,000 square meters of schoolhouses.

The university has 15 secondary institutes, and 59 undergraduate programs, covering literature, law, economics, history, science, engineering, agriculture, management and art. There are 23,000 undergraduate students on campus (including 56.3 percent of education majors) and 1,500 teaching and administrative staff, including 131 professors, 275 associate professors and 230 doctors. The university has made the following achievements in recent years:

First, it was renamed Lingnan Normal University with the approval of the Ministry of Education and the provincial government in April. The new name has encouraged all personnel to make great efforts for its development. Second, the quality of education and teaching has been improved. The university has built a sound educational system with 28 undergraduate programs, covering pre-school, basic, special and vocational education. It has launched a special education program with a Taiwan organization, and a diving education program with the Zhanjiang diving base of the General Administration of Sport. The university has two national and four provincial faculty training bases. In addition, it won two first prizes of the 7th teaching achievement awards.

Its employment rate is ahead of its peers in Guangdong. Last year, a total of 297 students passed the postgraduate entrance exams. Many students have won various competitions.

During the past five years, the university has trained more than 42,000 students in primary and secondary schools and vocational colleges. The university ranked first among the new training bases in its first national training program for primary and middle school teachers in terms of trainees’ evaluation, and was praised by the Ministry of Education’s teaching work department.

Third, the university has made much progress in discipline development. It now has three provincial key special disciplines, one provincial collaborative innovative cultivation platform, and two provincial key study bases for humanities and social sciences. It has won two first prizes in Guangdong’s philosophy and social sciences, and a third prize in science and technology.

Fourth, management services have seen positive results. The university has improved administrative efficiency and management transparency with the help of an online office automation and electronic efficiency supervision system. It has cut expenditure and thrifty operations have helped lowere its debt from over 300 million yuan ($48.22 million) three years ago to 113 million yuan. In addition, it has built a group of human landscapes which integrate traditional culture and a modern university spirit with a focus on campus culture.

These days Lingnan Normal University enjoys a higher reputation. In 2013, a magazine published special reports about the university in four consecutive issues. The university is focusing on innovating education models, training excellent teachers and promoting local basic education. It aims to grow into one of the top normal universities in Guangdong.