It is now becoming a trend that a growing number of master's and doctoral degree holders have found employment as primary and middle school teachers in Hangzhou.

This trend has also prompted more headmasters and teachers to take part in the postgraduate entrance examination.

Jianhong Experimental School, a primary school in Hangzhou, recently hired 17 new teachers, who are inclusively master's degree holders, to teach grade one students. The school listed having a master's degree as a prerequisite to becoming a teacher here.

Chu, who graduated from Peking University in 2019 as a doctoral degree holder, is now a teacher of science at a private middle school in Gongshu district.

Chu said that he heard quite a few of disapproving comments when he chose to be a middle school teacher after receiving his doctoral degree. He remembers one particular comment that said "it is a waste of educational resources."

"I always feel that this choice is not worth being discussed. I just wanted to change and have a new life direction after spending so many years conducting research," he said.

According to Chu, many of his classmates at Peking University chose to be teachers at middle schools like the Attached Middle School of Renmin University of China and Shenzhen Middle School.

"I don't think it is wasting talent on a job," Chu said. "No matter how high my degree is, I am still new in terms of being a teacher and I still need to learn from the more senior teachers."

"Teaching is more difficult than most other jobs. It is more than merely teaching kids how to read and writing, but it's guiding them how to learn and love studying," Chu said.

Besides teaching classes, Chu also has other jobs to do. He is now tasked with developing new curriculum with other teachers.

An executive of the private school highly praised Chu's ability and his performance in developing new curriculum.

According to statistics released by the education authorities in Jianggan district, primary and middle schools in Jianggan hired 123 graduates with a master's degree last year. Now, the district has 1,223 primary and middle school teachers with a master's degree, accounting for 18.9 percent of the total.

Officials from the Hangzhou education authorities estimated that it will be increasingly normal that more and more high-academic degree holders will teach in Hangzhou.