Yu Minhong's remarkable career, which has seen him go from being an English teacher at Peking University to CEO of the country's largest private educational institution, inspired a generation of young hopefuls to fulfill their dreams.

Yu Minhong

The story of how he established New Oriental Education & Technology Group, the most recognized brand in Chinese private education, was told on the big screen in 2013 in Hong Kong director Peter Chan's film American Dreams in China.

Yu, nicknamed the Godfather of English Training by his students, has another important role - since 2008 he has been a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and gives advice on how education should develop in the country.

Yu was born into a rural family in Jiangsu province, and at the annual session he expressed his strong support for teachers working in underprivileged areas. The country has pledged to narrow the gap in the provision of educational resources between urban and rural regions.

"There is a simple and crude way to keep good teachers in rural areas - raise their wages to between 20 and 30 percent more than the salaries paid in cities," the 52-year-old said on Wednesday.

"However, it won't be a long-term solution to encourage good teachers to settle in the countryside just because they are motivated by a spirit of dedication."

Yu, better known as Michael in the West, became arguably the richest teacher in China after New Oriental listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2006. In the past few years he has been actively promoting online education through video-streaming platforms.

He believes that the popularity of the Internet could help high-quality educational organizations in the cities to reach out to benefit students in remote areas.

"It's unrealistic to expect outstanding teachers in the cities to all move to the countryside," he said. "Even if they did, each of them could teach only a limited number of students in a physical classroom.

"With the help of online platforms, resources could be allocated in favor of rural areas to guarantee educational equality."

Yu has attended the CPPCC's annual sessions for years, and stands out from other members from the world of education because of his down-to earth manner. He remains politely patient as he faces the media scrum and answers as many questions as possible.

His speeches in group discussions are always simple and direct, and he is not afraid to tackle contentious issues.

"If the CPPCC can't provide advice and suggestions to the government, the annual session will just be an assembly of high-profile people."

Despite the session's tight schedule, Yu brought seven books with him and was spotted reading one of them on a shuttle bus ride from his hotel to the conference hall.

He told Renmin Zhengxie Bao, the CPPCC's official publication, "Reading books brings inner serenity and enables you to ponder over the inspiration you gained from the book."

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn