Shenzhen looks to internationalize its education system with the appointment of its first ever non-Chinese vice-principal.

Dr Elisabeth Montgomery will serve as the vice-principal at the Experimental School of South University of Science and Technology of China, a brand new elementary school, reports the Shenzhen Daily.

Montgomery describes international education as an amalgamation between Chinese and Western curricula that can invigorate students’ innate creativity at an early age. Montgomery said,

Students will have an environment of global classrooms with more interactions, and they will become aware of different cultures, not only of American culture, but from many places around the world, so they can have early education about what the world is and have incentives to explore more by themselves, which is also key to our education.

It’s reported that Montgomery has experience with local primary schools because her daughter attends Nantou Primary School, and that she has some Chinese language ability as a way to speak to students and staff.

The experimental school currently has a student body of 96 students, which are separated into 24 students for each classroom

Photo: Sina