Plan to change Teacher's Day stirs debate

In an online survey at Sina.com, one of the country's major web portals, 66 percent of people support the change as of 4 pm Friday afternoon, as it avoids the hectic beginning of the new school year. The 30 percent who oppose the change mostly believe it is nothing but formalism.

"Compared with the date change, improving teachers' well-being is far more important," said Yan Jialong, principal of Yinshanfan Middle School in poor, mountainous Jinzhai county in East China's Anhui province.

Two new college graduates get only 1,500 yuan ($243) every month teaching in the township school, far less than their peers in urban schools, said Yan.

Yu Lu, an instructor at Yangzhou University in East China's Jiangsu province, said it is hard to accept the new date psychologically, as Teachers' Day has fallen on September 10 for almost three decades.

Meanwhile, Yu doubted if Confucius could receive general acceptance, as Teachers' Day should also be an international holiday.

The rising trend of parents and students sending gifts to teachers on Teachers' Day over the past decade has soured the holiday.

"I suggest canceling Teachers' Day, as it only tells children to give presents to teachers," said Qin Lan, an Internet user who posted on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging service.

The essence of respecting teachers is respecting them in heart and in action, said Qiu Puzhong, another netizen.

Improving teachers' wages and benefits is a top priority for the government.

Salaries vary for Chinese teachers according to school level and the cities they teach in.

Teachers in a top middle school in Beijing can earn as much as 10,000 yuan ($1,621) a month, while their counterparts in poor village schools get less than 1,000 yuan a month.