At a recent symposium on promoting the coordinated development of basic education in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Ministry of Education called for accelerating the sharing of primary and secondary education resources between the three locations.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the symposium, which was held on May 29 in the Xiong'an New Area of Hebei, called on Beijing and Tianjin to help schools in Hebei by setting up school branches or education groups in the province.

It also stressed the need for Beijing and Tianjin to help train more teachers for Hebei and improve their abilities, in addition to contributing their own teachers.

To promote the balanced development of basic education in the region, a new alliance formed of primary and secondary schools has been founded.

Initiated by the Shijiazhuang Foreign Language Education Group, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Basic Education Alliance, which comprises 12 primary and secondary schools in the region, seeks in-depth cooperation and exchange between members to share educational resources.

"The alliance will create a new platform for Hebei to introduce more quality basic education resources from Beijing and Tianjin," said Wang Liqian, an official at the Hebei Provincial Education Department.

The Mingyuan Institute of Education, a nonprofit professional institution based in Beijing that specializes in educational research and services, is offering professional guidance to the alliance.

"Now that the alliance has been set up, regular exchange activities among its member teachers and students should follow," said Gu Mingyuan, a co-founder of the institute and a consultant on the new alliance.

He added that communication between schools is needed to improve the level of education across the board and to train talented individuals.

Of the 12 member schools, four are from Beijing, four are from Tianjin and four are from Hebei. They include the High School Affiliated with Beijing Normal University, Tianjin Yaohua High School and the Shijiazhuang Foreign Language Education Group, which is based in Shijiazhuang and manages four schools ranging from kindergarten to senior high school.

Other primary and secondary schools in the region can apply to join in the future, according to the alliance's constitution, which was approved by members last week.