A volunteer team from East China Normal University in Shanghai, for example, remotely assisted in COVID-19 prevention and control at Wuding No 1 Middle School in Wuding county, Chuxiong Yi autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province, where 260 graduates from the university have been deployed to improve local education since 1999.

They also managed to explore more online teaching strategies for livestreamed classes, such as gameplay.

Wu Wenxuan from ECNU, who volunteered to teach chemistry at the school, recalls that her voice once became hoarse during an online class. When the class was over, she was moved by sweet comments from students through the livestreaming platform reminding her to drink more water and to take a break.

"I used to wonder how I would be capable of influencing local children by volunteering. But the doubts vanished when I returned to the county I volunteered in years later and met the students I taught," says Zhou Limin, one of the first batch of volunteers from ECNU in 1999 and a professor at the school of geographical sciences at the university.

"They have since become teachers themselves and still remember me. It was then I realized that volunteering is absolutely worth it," he adds.

Contact the writer at caochen@chinadaily.com.cn