Jack Ma Rural Teachers Award recognizes 100 teachers in southern China

SANYA -- The Jack Ma Rural Teachers Award ceremony was held in the city of Sanya, southern China's Hainan Province, on Monday.

A total of 100 rural teachers from 24 provinces and autonomous regions were awarded the prize for their outstanding services in some of China's most impoverished and remote areas.

All award recipients at the annual event, which was launched by the Jack Ma Foundation in 2015, received a grant of 100,000 yuan (around $14,300) for the next three years as part of the foundation's commitment to raising education standards in rural China.

Over the past five years, the foundation has launched several initiatives aimed at improving the quality of education in China's countryside areas.

So far, about 500 rural teachers, 60 headmasters of rural schools and 200 rural students in teacher-training universities have been awarded by the foundation.

The Jack Ma Foundation was established in 2014 by Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma, who is a former English teacher and has maintained a passion for education.