From July 3 to 8, Zhou Zuoyu, the vice chairman of the University Council of Beijing Normal University (BNU) and the director of the UNESCO International Research Centre for Rural Education (UNESCO INRULED), led a delegation to visit Papua New Guinea and attended the China-Pacific Teacher Education Forum held at the University of Goroka (UOG). During the conference, the delegation held two capacity-building workshops for local rural teachers and university teachers, and conducted on-site visits to the local basic education school in Goroka and the China Aid Juncao and Upland Rice Technology Project to Papua New Guinea.

The China-Pacific Teacher Education Forum was jointly organized by UOG, BNU and UNESCO INRULED, and was strongly supported by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Papua New Guinea. The theme of the forum focuses on "Teacher Challenges in the Pacific: Enhancing Quality Education for Sustainable Development", exploring key issues such as rural education, technology-enabled education, and teacher education, with a particular emphasis on addressing the difficulties faced by teachers in rural and remote areas.

On the morning of July 5, the opening ceremony of the forum was held. In attendance were Lucas Dekena, the Minister of Education of Papua New Guinea, Teng Waninga, the President of UOG, Joe Wemin, the Chancellor of UOG, and Chen Jiliang, the Counselor of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Papua New Guinea. Zhou Zuoyu delivered a speech on behalf of BNU and UNESCO INRULED. He reviewed the history of cooperation between BNU and the UOG, introduced the relevant work of BNU and UNESCO INRULED, and called on all parties to join hands and work together to promote the progress of teacher education in the Pacific region and globally.

On the afternoon of July 5, Zhou Zuoyu delivered a keynote speech titled "Narrowing the Gap: Teacher Capacity Building and the Fair and High-Quality Development of Education in China". In addition, Zhao Yuchi, the executive director of UNESCO INRULED, Da Ting, a core member of the UNESCO Chair on Artificial Intelligence in Education, and Wang Siyao, the programme coordinator at UNSECO INRULED, respectively delivered keynote speeches on "The Construction of a Support System for Rural Teachers' Professional Development", "Exploration and Practice of Generative Artificial Intelligence Empowering Human-Computer Collaborative Teaching", and "The Beijing Normal University Qianshi Program".

During the conference, Zhao Yuchi organized a capacity-building workshop titled "School-Based Teacher Professional Development", and Da Ting organized a capacity-building workshop titled "Artificial Intelligence in Education".

During the conference, the delegation also organized a partnership symposium to discuss with representatives of participating universities and educational institutions from Pacific island countries such as Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, and New Caledonia, aiming to expand the cooperation network and explore the possibility of future cooperation.

In addition, in order to understand the real situation of educational development in Papua New Guinea, on July 4, Zhou Zuoyu and the delegation also visited Asaroka Luthern Secondary School and were warmly received. On that day, they also specially visited the demonstration base of the China Aid Juncao and Upland Rice Technology Project to Papua New Guinea.

This visit further consolidated the cooperation between BNU, UNESCO INRULED and UOG, laying a solid foundation for expanding cooperation with South Pacific island countries . Looking ahead, the two sides will continue to carry out in-depth cooperation in areas such as rural education, teacher development, and educational informatization.