Patience and communication skills are far more important qualities than ample knowledge for a teacher, according to a survey of 500 middle-school students.

More than 30 per cent of those polled rated "being patient and good at guiding students" as the key factor to making a good teacher, compared to 4.5 per cent who opted for "knowledgeable" instructors. Teachers who harboured biases and divided students into "good" and "bad" groups were cited as the worst.

More than half of the students polled said a teacher's influence on them was comparable to that of a family member's.

The survey was conducted by the Guangzhou Communist Youth League School, reports Yangcheng Evening News.

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