Students decorate booths at the Junior Achievement Asia Pacific Company of the Year competition. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Lau from the JA Asia Pacific says: "We are glad to see that students are aware of the social responsibility of entrepreneurs, which is the idea JA wants to deliver."

Teachers involved in the student company program are volunteers from different industries.

Ye Hong, 54, who used to work in the finance industry and has been a volunteer teacher for eight years, says: "Anyone can become a volunteer and give lessons in the schools, regardless of their major or job."

Meanwhile, volunteers from different industries give lessons to students in the student company program, with the aim of inspiring them to launch startups and help them resolve various problems.

Ye says: "Students are more open-minded and have more creative ideas than we first realized. And JA provides a platform for them to break through the normal class routines and put their ideas into practice."

Ye, supported by her husband and son, left her company eight years ago and has been working as a volunteer since then.

She says that volunteers gain as much from the classes as students do and meeting people from different industries helps her to broaden horizons and social circles. Communicating with students also makes her feel younger and more alive, Ye says.

"As long as my students remain interested in what I share with them, I will stick to the volunteer job." says Ye.

Entrepreneurs who were once beneficiaries of the program have started to pay back into it by volunteering at the JA classes.

Contact the writer at xingwen@chinadaily.com.cn