RCEP Good Neighbor Talent Scholarship — Southeast Asia Institute, Global Teacher Development Institute (Yunnan Normal University)

About the university

Yunnan Normal University (YNNU), located in Kunming, Yunnan Province, is jointly established by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China and the People's Government of Yunnan Province. It is selected for the National Midwestern Universities Basic Capacity Building Project and the Yunnan Province First-Class Discipline Construction Project. It is one of the three local higher normal institutions piloting the national free teacher education program, one of the first batch of universities under the Ministry of Education's International Student Demonstration Base program, and a university implementing the Excellent Teacher Training Plan. It is also among the second batch of national demonstration universities for deepening innovation and entrepreneurship education reform, a recipient institution for Chinese Government Scholarship international students, and is designated by the Ministry of Education and Hanban as one of the ten key universities supporting Chinese language teaching in neighboring countries. The university has the authority to recruit students from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. Yunnan Normal University traces its origins to the Teacher Training College of the National Southwest Associated University, founded in 1938. In 1946, when Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Nankai University, which formed the Southwest Associated University, moved back north, its Teacher Training College remained in Kunming and became an independent institution named National Kunming Teacher Training College. It was renamed Kunming Teacher Training College in 1950, and Yunnan Normal University in 1984. In 1999, it merged with Yunnan Education College and Yunnan Physical Education College to form the current Yunnan Normal University. In August 2000, Yunnan Bank School was merged into the university. As of June 2025, the university covers an area of 2,848 mu, with a collection of 4.14 million paper books and 1.28 million e-books. It comprises 2 faculties, 20 schools, 40 research institutes, 55 affiliated and cooperative primary and secondary schools and kindergartens, and offers 71 undergraduate programs. It has 8 first-level doctoral degree authorization points, 2 professional doctoral degree categories, 6 postdoctoral research stations, 26 first-level master's degree authorization points, and 24 professional master's degree categories. The university has 2,447 faculty and staff, 30,295 full-time undergraduate students, 8,278 master's students, 492 doctoral students, 6,000 continuing education students, and 449 international students. At the end of 1938, to address the severe shortage of secondary school teachers in Yunnan, the Yunnan Provincial Department of Education requested, and with the approval of the Ministry of Education, the Southwest Associated University added a Teacher Training College. In December 1938, the college officially began classes, initially with seven departments, all with a five-year system. The first dean was Huang Yusheng. The education section of the Philosophy, Psychology, and Education Department was transferred to the Teacher Training College, and in the same month, the Education Department of Yunnan University was merged into the Education Department of the Southwest Associated University. At its founding, the Teacher Training College of the Southwest Associated University used the north campus of Kunhua Middle School. In October 1940, due to enemy bombing, the north campus was almost completely destroyed, so the college moved to Kunhua Industrial School to continue operations. In 1941, according to Ministry of Education regulations, the college established a three-year teacher training program and jointly with the Yunnan Provincial Department of Education ran a secondary school teacher training class and a middle school physics and chemistry experimental workshop. In October, the university council decided to establish an affiliated school for the Teacher Training College, including both a middle school and a primary school. In July 1946, after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the original Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Nankai University that formed the Southwest Associated University moved back north. The Teacher Training College of the Southwest Associated University remained in Kunming to continue operations. According to the Ministry of Education's directive, in August of the same year, the college was independently established in Kunming and renamed the National Kunming Teacher Training College, with Zha Liangzhao as dean. It moved into the former new campus of the Southwest Associated University and the north and south campuses of Kunhua Middle School. Scholars such as Yang Wuzhi, Luo Yong, and Hu Yi stayed at the college to continue teaching. To commemorate the end of the Southwest Associated University and the establishment of the Kunming Teacher Training College, teachers and students held a celebration event.