Education

Education（共10篇）

1.Education 篇一

Education Resume

Your resume is the reflection of your history, career, education, achievement and many more. To obtain the right and proper job, you need to write your resume with attention. Your resume should be clear and easy to read. So leave more white space as possible. Most of employers start their resume with self introduction and address at the top.

Recruiters of each field expect special demands from their employers. Education field is also not different field that also demands various specialties. Your resume helps you to get the appropriate position.

First you have to decide for which place you are going to apply. Format, content and length of your resume depend on the positions such as the position of high schoolteacher and university professor.

Before applying for the position, make sure that the position is appropriate position for your qualification. Also you have to check out the exact qualification, desire and expectation of the position that you are going to apply for. You can match your qualification with the qualification mentioned for that appropriate position.

You can use CV format that is curriculum vitae format which is used to apply for the positions such as scientific research and academic educational positions. If you are using CV format then it should be two or more than two pages.

You should include your education, skills, contact information, previous experience if having, other skills and interests, awards and many more things. Except above things education resume requires other things such as teaching experience, professional relations, awards or grants, publications etc.

Your resume is incomplete without cover letter. Cover letter plays an important role in introducing you to an employer. Cover letter helps to identify your goal or the reason applying for that position.

2.Education 篇二

关键词：成长小说,詹尼,大卫

一、成长小说主要有四个特点

成长小说是作者给予青少年主人公个人在心理和思想上成长的特别关注, 即主人公先是思想意识上的未完全成熟, 然后在经历了某个或几个震撼事件之后, 主人公迈出了决定性的一步, 从而获得对人生的顿悟和自我意识的提升。

1.人物成长蕴含在小说的叙事中。成长小说的叙事主要是围绕着主人公的生活环境而展开, 其他人物恰是因为主人公的存在而存在, 主人公一开始的经历空白, 由后来与其他人的相处交往, 情感变化所填充。在小说的末尾, 主人公由空瘪走向了饱满, 由懵懂走向沉稳淡定。大多数学者都倾向于把成长小说的主人公年龄定位在青少年, 但其中也不乏特例, 如沃伦的 《春寒》, 其中的主人公则只有9岁, 年龄并不是成长小说的主要特点, 成长小说最主要的是主人公阅历不断增加, 思想情感不断深化。

2. 内容上的亲历性。成长小说都紧紧围绕着主人公的周遭生活或是与之有关联的故事开展, 主人公的个人经历贯穿小说的始终。对现实的不满, 对于未知的幻想, 对突如其来的磨难的恐惧与迷茫, 弥漫整个小说, 看似形散, 但神不散, 所有的这些都是主人公的所感所想。种种见闻与经历不是别人的, 都是与主人公自身或是相关的。

3. 情节结构模式化。成长小说在叙事结构上有其自身的独特性, 可以说是有章可循的, 此类小说大多遵循着天真—诱惑—出走—考验—迷茫—顿悟—失去天真—认识人生和自我。每位成长小说的主人公都要经历一段迷茫而后顿悟的心路历程, 主人公先是对未知充满无限向往, 而后经历冒险或是磨难, 经过考验的主人公, 在经过思想的斗争之后, 对于自我的认知以及周边的世界有了成熟的看法, 从一开始的一无所知趋向成熟完善, 思想意识在磨难的考验下得到升华。

4. 结果上的新生。小说的主人公在经历了一系列感情及心理上的磨练之后, 经过引路人的指导, 在一次或几次震撼事件之后, 摆脱过往的天真与幻想, 开始接受现实, 获得对自我、对他人、对社会某种新的顿悟与理解。与小说开始前相比, 到小说的结尾, 主人公在经历心理上的跌宕起伏之后, 获得了心理和精神上的新生。

二、An Education的剧情简介及所反映出的成长小说的几大元素

《成长教育》 是根据英国星期日泰晤士报女记者琳·巴贝尔 (Lynn Barber) 的回忆录改编。影片描写一位16 岁女孩面对成长经验, 家庭期许, 以及突入其来的爱情介入下, 从女孩转变成女人的心境历程, 影片背景是1961 年的英国伦敦, 16 岁的少女詹尼是一个聪明开朗的小姑娘, 在父母和学校的教育下, 成绩优异, 是女子预科学校中能够有资格进入牛津的佼佼者。一个雨天, 她遇见了成熟时髦, 风趣迷人的男人大卫, 并闪电般地与他坠入爱河不可自拔, 大卫举手投足间的迷人气质深深吸引了詹尼, 大卫对珍妮也恋恋不忘。于是大卫和詹尼交往日益频繁, 大卫和朋友不断带詹尼出入音乐会、高档餐厅和艺术品拍卖行, 珍妮沉迷其中, 备考牛津的念头也被抛诸到九霄云外, 当她得知大卫有妻子, 真相确如一记砖头重重地砸向她的大脑, 她迷茫, 困惑, 并开始思索什么才是自己想要的。

1. 成长的背景与困惑

故事发生在60 年代伦敦乡下一个普通人的家庭, 16 岁的女孩詹尼对未来充满幻想, 她是一个乖乖女, 每天上学, 认真做笔记, 成绩优异, 被大家公认为考上牛津大学的种子选手。对于这样优秀的女孩子来说, 她已不再是毫无忧虑的孩童, 她有自己的憧憬, 向往爱情, 漂亮的衣服, 做自己喜欢做的事情, 可是当她把同龄男友带回家时, 却遭到父母一致反对, 她梦想着自己掌控自己的一切, 可当我们从她和父亲的谈话中足可见她现在的小小的困惑:

Jenny:If I go to university, I`m going to read what I want and to wear black

詹尼:等我上了大学, 我要读自己喜欢的书, 还要穿黑色的衣服

Jenny`s father: now that you are a rebel, but I want that in Oxford

詹尼的爸爸:看来你还挺叛逆的, 这些就等你考进牛津再说吧

Jenny: no, you don`t want people to even think for themselves

詹尼:不, 难道你不希望别人稍微为自己着想下吗?

Jenny`s father:of course I don`t

詹尼的爸爸:我当然不想

她梦想的一切在父亲的权威下黯然失色, 她为自己不能掌控生活困惑不已

2. 短暂的旅行, 遭遇考验

平静的生活当出现小小的波澜后, 总会掀起大浪, 詹尼在某一天的上学途中, 下雨中结识了幽默风趣, 成熟稳重而又有钱的大卫, 在多次接触中, 詹尼爱上了这个成熟迷人的男人大卫, 大卫是个成熟, 风趣的男人, 总之可以说是每个少女梦中的那个人。他带Jenny去看演唱会, 看赛狗, 总之令原来Jenny无味的生活顿时充满了新意, 他带詹尼到巴黎旅行, 让詹尼碰触到了梦想中城市的奢华, 是考上牛津大学过平淡的生活还是过这种歌舞升平的生活, 在这次短暂的旅行中, 这个已不再是困惑詹尼的问题, 她要嫁给这个有钱成熟的男人, 平静的生活不再平静。

3.陷入困境

当詹尼把结婚的想法告诉大卫时, 并没有得到大卫欣喜的回应, 而是一再的躲避, 一再的闭口缄默, 直到詹尼忍无可忍找到大卫家时, 她惊呆啦, 她看到的是大卫的妻子和可爱的孩子, 这一幕犹如当头一棒, 砸在詹尼的头上, 让她不知所措

4. 获得顿悟

人只有行动才会有结果, 只有上路才会有所发现, 只有上路才会遭遇困惑, 才会在事件中经过成长道路中引路人的指引下, 有所顿悟。成长的引路人作为成长小说的一个重要构件, 其作用不容忽视, 正因为有引路人, 故事的主人公, 才能在铺满诱惑的成长之路上跌倒爬起, 在众多的引路人中, 大致可分为三类, 积极的引路人, 消极的引路人和神灵。在本片中主人公所遇到的就是消极引路人, 也许生活中大家会认为正面的引路人会给青少年带来很大的影响, 但实质上消极引路人同样有相同的效果, 会对青少年的成长产生巨大的影响。消极引路人在不同的成长小说中, 会以千姿百态的形象出现, 归结起来主要有三种:一种是将主人公引向生命的歧途;二是为主人公的成长提供了反面的参照, 在与坏的对比中, 好凸显出来, 两者界线得到确定;三就像圣经中的撒旦一样, 没有撒旦的诱惑, 夏娃永远不知道善恶美丑, 会永久地处于天真无知的状态, 正是撒旦, 亚当和夏娃失去了原有的无忧无虑与天真快乐, 夏娃要遭受怀孕和分娩之苦, 并受制于丈夫;亚当必须终生在土地上劳作, 顾名思义, 结合本片中主人公的遭遇, 她所遇到的引路人则是消极领路人, 正是如同撒旦一样的大卫的出现, 将16 岁詹尼的所有诱惑都摆到了面前, 逼着她不得不去审视自己的人生, 什么才是自己想要的, 面对诱惑何去何从, 面对真相如何抉择。我们的主人公在经历了巨大打击之后, 并未选择消沉, 毁灭, 而是缄默的重新开始生活。成长的过程就是一个有得有失的过程, 一方面, 对生活, 对自我有了新的认识, 获得了自我在精神上的提升, 而同时又在失去着童年, 失去着父母的关爱和曾经的伙伴。这在詹尼和老师斯塔布小姐的对话中可见一斑:

Jenny:A Burne-Jones (詹尼:伯恩·琼斯 (詹尼看见相框旁边的一幅插画)

Miss Stubbs: Do you like him? (斯塔布小姐:你喜欢吗?)

Jenny:I do, still (詹尼:喜欢, 仍然!)

Miss Stubbs: still? You sound very old and wise (斯塔布小姐:仍然?听起来苍老而睿智)

Jenny:I feel old, but not very wise (詹尼:老是老了, 却并不怎么睿智。)

这是詹尼在知道大卫有妻有子之后去见老师的一幕, 简短的对话, 却意味深长, 足可见詹尼在经历了人生中突如其来的诱惑之后, 心态上的变化。

3.Education 篇三

As a matter of fact, as early as the end of the Second World War, DIE began incorporating theatrical activities for educational purposes in Europe and the United States, emphasizing interaction and situational simulation. In the class, Veronika created a fictitious character Miao Miao and let the children imagine what kind of a student Miao Miao was. “She respects teachers.” “She is lively and cheerful.” “She loves study.” “She gets along with other students very well, except that she quarrels with Xiao Ming.”…The children one by one, through their sign language teacher, described their image of Miao Miao.

“But suddenly one day, Miao Miao turned strange and was very upset. What had happened? How should her classmates comfort her?” Veronika set up this scene and divided the class into several groups each with five children and asked them to play the role of “abnormal Miao Miao” telling the reason why she was so unhappy, and how her classmates comforted her. The reasons mostly related to parents, such “Dad and Mom force me to study”; “Dad and Mom want me to study hard so as to go to university in future”; “Dad and Mom are divorced”, etc. Seeing all this, Veronika could not help smiling wryly and shook her head. But she also analyzed that it was under the protection of role-playing that the children felt safe, thus enabling them to reveal their problems without hesitation. She pointed out: “To them, Miao Miao is a kind of psychological projection. Through role-playing, interaction with other classmates and help from the teachers, they are trying to find ways to solve their problems. This is just the objective that DIE hopes to achieve.”

Veronika has been engaged in special education for 20 years. She explained that, when communicating with hearing-impaired children, one needs to be more patient and express ideas as specifically and simply as possible. This is the reason why she has introduced DIE into special education. “Role-playing and interaction can help hearing-impaired children study more actively and intuitively.” She told the reporter that her three daughters often volunteered to do some work for the Taka Tuka Club. “What I hope to teach them most is to be independent and grow up in their own ways and have the ability of solving problems independently.”

Last year was China-EU Youth Exchange Year, with its main aim to promote intercultural dialogue and enhance mutual understanding and friendship between Chinese and European youth and encourage them to pay close attention to, and support the development of China-EU relations. This, it was hoped, would exert an extensive and positive influence on the decision makers and youth organizations of China and the EU and ensuring post-2011 sustainable cooperation between the decision makers and youth organizations of the two sides.

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In order to strengthen the partnership and develop the contact network, volunteer projects and youth exchange projects, the Education, Audio-visual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), subordinate organization of the European Commission, decided to use its main program for the current year “Youth in Action” and its sub-program “Youth in the World” to solicit international youth cooperation projects from youth organizations and agencies in all EU member countries from which 30 were chosen for funding. Among these, the project in cooperation with Chinese youth organizations was given top priority.

The year 2011 marks the 30th anniversary of the twinning of friendship-city ties between Chengdu and Ljubljana. The Taka Tuka Club which has long dedicated itself to international youth exchanges, was keen to get involved so as to enhance mutual understanding and cultural exchanges between the youth of China and the EU, promote communications and exchanges between hearing handicapped and normal youth and facilitate spreading of the advanced educational method of DIE. From this merged the“Theater as a Bridge for Communication”.

Among the members in charge of the project on the Slovenian side, there is a special member from Chengdu: Wang Xuan, a graduate student sent by the Chinese Ministry of Education to study for a doctorate of child psychology at the University of Ljubljana. During the project design phase, she strongly proposed that Veronika should seek to cooperate with the youth organizations in Chengdu. For this reason, she returned home in May 2011 and made contacts with the Chengdu Municipal People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries(CMPAFFC) to seek help. When the Foreign Affairs Office of the Chengdu Municipal Government and the CMPAFFC learned about the project, they gave it great support and recommended the Chengdu Special Education School and Chengdu University as the Chinese cooperative partners.

In early August 2011, the project won recognition from EACEA and got 100,000 euros in financial assistance. In December 2011, the Slovenian members of the project visited Chengdu where they held lectures and workshops to popularize the DIE theory and its practice in the education for deaf-mute students. They also visited relevant schools and institutions in Chengdu. In January 2012, the Chinese members of the project visited Slovenia where they briefed about China’s education for deaf-mute children and the development and current situation of China’s children’s theater, held workshops and visited relevant schools and organizations. In July 2012, Slovenian youth will visit Chengdu and participate in DIE and group activities together with local youths to enhance mutual understanding and cultural exchanges and, in particular, promote mutual understanding and communication between normal and hearing-impaired youth. In October 2012, a Chinese youth delegation will visit Slovenia and perform DIE during the Youth Art Festival and have group activities with their Slovenian counterparts.

Note: The phrase Taka Tuka comes from one of Swedish children’s literature writer Astrid Lindgren’s representative fairy tales Pippi Longstocking. The little unconventional girl Pippi Longstocking is the idol of children. Taka Tuka is from one of the stories Pippi Longstocking in Taka Tuka Land telling about her interesting adventures in the mysterious Taka Tuka Land in the South Seas.

4.Education 篇四

And gladly would learn , and gladly teach .( Chaucer , British poet)

勤于学习的`人才能乐意施教。(英国诗人, 乔叟)

Better be unborn than untaught , for ignorance is the root of misfortune

.(Plato , Ancient Greek philosopher)

与其不受教育,不如不生,因为无知是不幸的根源.(古希腊哲学家 柏拉图)

Genius17 without education is like silver in the mine. (Benjamin Franklin

, American president )

未受教育的天才，犹如矿中之银。 (美国总统 富兰克. B.)

The roots of education are bitter , but the fruit is sweet .(Aristotle ,

Ancient Greek philosopher )

5.Education 篇五

Better education better future演讲稿

王乾屹 上外苏河湾Class3

Well, today I would like to address my speech on the topic of “Better education better future”. Obama, the formal president of the USA who is responsible for the well-being of people, and also a good speaker, launches his speech around the word --“responsibility”. Obama lists some different responsibility of the people with different occupations to warn us that no one can shirk his own responsibility, including us.

But what is our responsibility?I think studying is the responsibility we should do now while President Obama thinks finding out what things we are good at and developing it is the true answer. Umm…… In my opinion, maybe it is not discovering the merits as much as contributing to our motherland that we have to do.

In the future, everyone will all play a necessary roll in the social life, maybe a doctor, treating the disease and saving the lives, maybe a cop, arresting the people who commit a crime, or even a farmer, guaranteeing the food and nutrition we need every day.

In the meantime, it is also relevant to our country. We are the new generation of the country and the future is in our hands. In another words, how we are decides how the country is.

To sum up, I strongly believe that a better education establishes a better future, not only just for our future, but also for the future of our society and country.

老 师 点 评

对于喜欢show off词汇的小王同学来说，这次的演讲稿也不改变其一贯以来的风格。 小王当天的`表现更是可圈可点哦~

Better Education Better Future演讲稿

原创： 倪熙城

Hi, I am Natalie. Today, my speech topic is: Better Education Better Future.

At first, I’d like to ask you a question: why do we need to go to school? Maybe some of you do not have the answer. That’s OK. I’ll tell you later. Before that, It’s about my father.

My father was born in 1974 in Chongming. My grandpa and grandma were all farmers. My father had a dream when he was a child, he did not want to be a farmer, he would like to work in big cities. And the only way to achieved his dream, was to go to the university. But my father was poor at English. He couldn’t study in regular universities. So, he found another way, by playing sports. And he really did it. He became the student of Shanghai University of Sport. Now he is a PE teacher. Education changed his life. Just think, if my father didn’t go to the university, if he did not have any talent, what would happen? Perhaps he should work in the fields all day and just earn a little. Perhaps he should work as a farmer all his life!

Now that’s talk about the question: why do we need to go to school? Because education can change people’s life. Just like my father. Knowledge can change our destiny. If we have talent, maybe we will be able to do what we want to do. To be a doctor, or to be an engineer. A better education can make us more knowledgeable, and we will have a better future.

That’s all. Thanks for listening.

6.Education 篇六

please write a composition entitled the importance of education in no less than 150 words. you are given the first sentence of each paragraph below:

1.education plays an important role in society.

2.the most advanced countries in the world all place great emphasis on education.

3.nowadays, china comes to realize the great importance of education, and so is taking measures to improve the level of it.

the importance of education

education plays an important role in society.in morden time ,techolonigy is developing

very fast.we should have enough knowlege to fllow it.that‘s to say we should pay more attation to education and study very hard.

the most advanced countries in the world all place great emphasis on education.

alomost every developed country have theri own method of education .and take the laws to cause people have postive attitude of study .

7.Education 篇七

“I started to apply for study in the United States in 2002. At that time, almost all top undergraduate students in our university wanted to study abroad for a graduate degree,” said Zhou Ye, Investment Director of Softbank China Venture Capital (SBCVC), a leading venture capital firm headquartered in Singapore and Hong Kong. Zhou got high marks in both TOEFL and GRE tests.

“Studying abroad can broaden our horizons. And it can give us a fast-track in our careers, in terms of both academics and career development opportunities,” said Zhou.

Zhou was a top student from Tsinghua University in Beijing. After graduating from the university with a bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering in 2003, he successfully entered the University of California, Berkeley for a Ph.D. degree program in the Electronic Engineering and Computer Science Department with a full scholarship. Zhou had some internship experiences and an Internet start-up experience during his Ph.D. years in the United States. After getting his Ph.D. from Berkeley in 2008, he came back to work in Shanghai, the city where he was born.

He started as a management consultant in the Shanghai Office of McKinsey & Company, the world’s leading management consulting firm. And in 2011, he went to SBCVC and became an investment director.

Zhou’s career track is one that many Chinese young people have been seeking. As he sees it, his success largely owes to his educational background and experience abroad.

“The experience in the United States not only enhanced my academic background, but also improved my problem-solving and communication skills,” said Zhou.

The laboratory equipment and research environment in Chinese universities are poor compared to those in developed countries.

It was almost impossible for an electrical engineering postgraduate student in China to get his academic paper published in the world’s top academic journals such as Science and Nature.

But once he had the opportunity to do research in top-tier laboratories like those of the University of California, Berkeley, it was much easier, said Zhou.

While studying abroad, he learned how to work in a global team. His colleagues were all young people from all across the world and with different cultural backgrounds. It was a very precious experience to work, communicate and cooperate with them, said Zhou.

The overseas experience also made him realize there were other lifestyles and values in the world.

The problem-solving and communication skills he gained from his overseas experience laid a sound foundation for his later work at McKinsey, said Zhou, who successfully got a promotion as engagement manager after working in the highly competitive company for two years.

According to a survey conducted by Chinese media in 2010 among Chinese students who planned to study abroad, about 59.6 percent of the respondents said they decided to study abroad because of the better education quality in recent years.

The number of Chinese students who studied abroad surged in the past few decades.

According to the statistics of China’s Ministry of Education, a total of 339,700 Chinese students went abroad for graduate and undergraduate studies in 2011, an increase of 19.32 percent over that of 2010.

Coming home

When asked why he chose to return to China after graduation, Zhou said it was because the career development opportunities in China were better.

“If I stayed in the United States, I would most likely have worked in Silicon Valley as an engineer and the career upside would be limited. In the United States, my Chinese background would not be valued in my career. However, in China, both my Chinese background and international background are very valuable. There were many better career choices for me in China. At last, I chose the Shanghai Office of McKinsey. The job opportunity was great, and the career upside in China is unlimited,” said Zhou.

At the bottom of his heart, he wanted to go back to his hometown so that he could take care of his parents, said him.

Zhou’s choice reveals a trend that more Chinese students are willing to return to China for work after completing their studies in developed countries.

“If conditions permit, I will send my son to study abroad. Better to send him abroad earlier, right after high school when he is 18 years old,” said Zhou.

Like Zhou, many Chinese parents now intend to send their children abroad at an earlier age.

Starting from 2010, more and more Chinese secondary school students aged around 15 went to study in the United States. Some parents even send their children abroad for primary school.

While the number of students going abroad is increasing, the percentage of those returning is also increasing. One reason is the sluggish job market in the United States. Due to the impact of the international financial crisis which broke out in 2008, the United States has been suffering from an unemployment rate of around 10 percent. Most Chinese students find it difficult to land a satisfactory job in the United States after graduation.

In addition, it is difficult for them to get promoted to senior management positions. Most Chinese immigrants lived an ordinary life in the United States, said Zhu Hongwen, Chairman of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association in New York.

Retuning to China, they can get a strong sense of social identity that they cannot get in the United States. They are a privileged group of people in career development thanks to their overseas experience and the English language advantage, said Zhu.

8.Education 篇八

The Importance of Education 教育的`重要性

The prosperity of a nation depends on the development of education. Any development in science and technology throughout the world is due to the development of education which brings up scientists and inventors. It is difficult to emphasize just how important the role of education is. There is no doubt that countries with undeveloped education will remain poor.

Education is also vital to the development of an individual. Of all elements of success in our careers none is more important than education. It is not genius but the knowledge that makes the difference between success and failure. In fact most of the famous people of our times spent many years studying. Can you name any great men you admire who are not well educated ?

9.Education 篇九

In times gone by， students in the UK could apply to a university or college safe in the knowledge that， even if they came from a low income family， their tuition[学费] fees and some of their living （or maintenance） costs would be covered by a local authority grant[助学金]. A university education was， in a financial sense， open to all and the number of students attending university grew year on year.

Sadly， it seems， those days are long gone. The turning point came in 1998， when the Labour Government introduced tuition fees of￡1，000 a year and， instead of giving students a maintenance grant， asked them to cover their own living expenses with a repayable student loan. Only students on the lowest incomes were entitled to a grant.

The flood gates had been opened. As time passed， the ceiling on tuition fees rose， and although applicants from Scotland， Northern Ireland and Wales still qualified for varying levels of subsidy[补助金]， by 2009/10 students in England often found themselves facing tuition fees in excess of ￡3，000 a year.

But the biggest change was still to come. In 2011， the Government announced that， from 2012， universities could charge fees of up to ￡9，000 a year. Although the Government sweetened the pill by stating that postgraduates did not have to begin repaying their student loans until they were earning more than ￡21，000 a year， the news created outrage[愤怒]. Many argued that it was unfair that students should have to begin their working life saddled[承受] with huge debt， while others complained that the changes would bring back a class divide to university education. These views were reflected in the number of students applying for a university place， which by January 2012 had fallen by more than 22，000.

Activity

Read the text carefully and match these common phrases to their meanings.

Phrases

a） the turning point

b） the flood gates have been opened

c） the ceiling rose

d） sweeten the pill

e） a class divide

Meanings

i） make accepting a hard thing a little easier

ii） social division between rich and poor

iii） there is no stopping a situation now

iv） the time when things begin to change

v） the upper limit increased

Solutions

10.Education 篇十

This significant step in digital learning is sponsored by the government and aims to ensure equal access to educational resources for all students – a daunting task for a large, populous country where economic development has been uneven.

From the founding of the PRC in 1949 through to the 1970s, China had a public education system based on social welfare ideals that greatly raised the education level of the populace.

Beginning with opening-up and reform, and in particular since the early 1990s, funding for public education began to diversify. Though government outlays have remained the chief source of schools’ funding, parents are paying at least some tuition fees, public donations are solicited, and schools are encouraged to open for-profit side organizations to bolster their cash reserves.

The concept that a child’s education is a key family investment is widely accepted by the Chinese people. But the belief that a public education system is an essential part of the social safety net is still strong, as is the notion that equality must be the goal of this system. Therefore, responsible citizens from all walks of life are doing their part to build an excellent learning environment for youth, in which equality is championed above all else. Beijing’s new digital initiative is a cogent example of this new drive.

schools of Hope

China’s “Schools of Hope” project is another great example. When the first School of Hope – schools in poorer rural areas built with donations – opened in Jinzhai County, Anhui Province in May 1990, it consisted of only a few dilapidated rooms. Today that first campus has expanded to 14,000 square meters and accommodates more than 1,600 students in 27 classes at both preschool and elementary school levels. From 1990 to 2011 Jinzhai County alone erected 110 Schools of Hope, significantly boosting the enrollment rate of local school-age children.

China Youth Development Foundation initiated the Hope Project in 1989, and the scheme has been lauded as the most influential and well-participated public charity program of the 1990s in the country. Over the past 23 years the project has raised over RMB 5.3 billion and established 15,444 Schools of Hope in which 3.38 million rural students have attended lessons.

In addition to building classrooms, the Hope Project provides classroom equipment and trains teachers. The goal is to help children from underdeveloped regions gain access to the same educational resources, tangible and intangible, as their better-off peers.

In 1985 the Chinese government announced the goals of making nine-year compulsory education universal and ultimately eradicating illiteracy among young and middleaged people. The country is now very close to realizing these goals – today, approximately 95 percent of children finish junior middle school, having stayed in school for nine years.

Despite the improvement, there are still some three million children, mostly in central and western provinces, that don’t complete nine years of schooling due to financial or health reasons. Many leave the classroom to help their cash-strapped families with farm work. It is the mission of both the government and general public to bring these children back to school and prevent further dropouts.

During the decade 1996 to 2005 China carried out a special campaign to boost public education in its poorer regions. RMB 20.548 billion was plowed into these areas, with 85.7 percent of funds coming from central and local governments. The money went to the construction of 5,380 primary schools and 2,466 junior middle schools; rebuilding and expanding 27,197 primary schools and 8,035 junior middle schools; the purchase of teaching materials; free textbooks for students, and faculty training. “It was the best funded and most extensive education aid program in the history of the PRC,” said Song Ziming, a Ministry of Finance official who formerly headed the experts panel on the project. To complement the initiative, the central government forked out another RMB 6 billion in 2003 to reno- vate rundown school buildings in 22 provinces/autonomous regions in central and western China.

New classrooms alone are not enough to encourage children from the country’s poorest families to stay in school. And so in 2005, the state began to hand out free textbooks to primary and junior middle school students, as well as award subsidies to students in need of board. Of the 130 million rural students in China, as many as 30 million are boarders.

Wang Mengmeng, an eighth grader at the No. 1 Middle School of Shangji Town, Xuchang City, Jiangxi Province, had lived with her father and grandmother since her mother died when she was small. All the family’s income comes from their two-mu (about 0.13 hectares) farmland and odd jobs her father takes during the off-season. Earlier this year, Mengmeng’s school put her on its subsidy recipient roster.

“The allowance was set at RMB 625 for the four-month spring semester. This gave Mengmeng about RMB 5 per day –enough to cover meals,” explained school principal Su Wenwei. With free textbooks, zero tuition fees and a daily allowance, students like Wang Mengmeng don’t pay a cent.

Though many rural students don’t live at school, on average they have at least one meal a day on school grounds. Due to insufficient funding, school canteens have lacked the resources to produce nutritious food for students. In 2010 and 2011 the central budget and the Ministry of Education appropriated RMB 16.9 billion to upgrade living facilities in rural schools, including canteens and dormitories. At the end of 2011 another RMB 10 billion was earmarked especially for school canteens in the countryside.

Starting in the fall semester of 2011 China kicked off a nutrition improvement program in its least　developed areas that subsidizes meals for students in primary and junior middle schools at the rate of RMB 3 per head per day. This requires an annual outlay of RMB 16 billion from the central coffers. The first phrase of the program covers 26 million students in 680 cities and counties, accounting for nearly 30 percent of rural students in central and western China.

Among the 3,918 graduates of the Jinzhai Schools of Hope, more than 700 received financial aid. Many are now studying in the country’s top universities such as Tsinghua University and the University of Science and Technology of China. Higher education would have been out of their reach without such financial assistance.

As Yadie, a teacher at the Central Primary School in Mainling County, Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibet, said about the subsidies: “All parents need to do is get their children to the gate of the school. We take care of the rest.”

Since 1985 Tibet has promoted boarding schools among its nomadic rural population, providing children with free accommodation and exempting them from tuition fees. Half a million rural students benefited from this policy. The autonomous region’s enrollment rate hit 99.2 percent for primary schools and 98.2 for junior middle schools in 2010. The difference with 50 years ago could hardly be starker– when the autonomous region was liberated in 1951, more than 95 percent of the local population were illiterate or semi-illiterate.

education Comes First

As getting all students through nine-year compulsory education has become the norm in China, many places in the country are now looking toward 12 years of heavily subsidized education as the new benchmark.

Policies have been in place since 2008 in Dongguan City’s Shipai Town, Guangdong Province, to offer the three additional years of free education on top of the standard nine.

This is only one part of the education revolution in the town. Since 2009, kindergartens have been free there. Since 2010, students at the junior college level as well as undergraduates, postgraduates and doctoral candidates have been entitled to receive an annual stipend of RMB 4,000, 6,000, 8,000 and 10,000 respectively.

These measures have technically made possible 25 years of tuition-free schooling. Before these measures, less than 10 people from Shipai Town made it to university every year. In 2009, the number had jumped to 198, and by 2010, 219 were heading on to tertiary institutions.

The town and its affiliated villages spend approximately RMB 15 million on the new polices each year. As a coastal area in South China, Shipai boasts comparatively high fiscal revenues, and education expenditures are a relatively small part of the budget. Lu Yibiao, a town official, breaks down the 2009 figures: affiliated villages allocated RMB 5 million to education subsidies, while total revenue for the year was RMB 270 million. Shipai Town spent RMB 10 million for free education, while tax receipts were RMB 360 million. Lu Yibiao says that as the town’s finances stand at present, heavily subsidizing local children’s education from kindergarten right through to university is completely affordable.

Unlike Shipai Town, Ningshan County in Ankang City of Shaanxi Province is a poverty-stricken county. But in 2007, the county’s authorities came up with their own way to benefit local students. Nowadays, they offer boarder students free meals, a living subsidy and free vocational training on top of 12 years of free education. Since 2009, the three years of senior middle school, encompassing vocational education, have been free for the whole county. Since the autumn of 2011, kindergartens have also been free of charge.

Ningshan had a population of 74,000 and a gross income per capita of RMB 3,812 in 2010. Its fiscal income was RMB 30.75 million. Local government spent 40 percent of this– RMB 12 million – on education, way above the national average of 12.5 percent. The subsidy for senior middle school students alone, RMB 2,000, is almost half of a rural household’s average annual income. Big outlays on education have meant the county government has had to limit its other expenses. For example, the county government’s office building is a renovated student dormitory building from the 1990s.

According to statistics, 12 years of free education is a growing trend around China. Regions such as Inner Mongolia, Mawei District of Fuzhou City in Fujian Province, Shuangliu County of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, Dexing City of Jiangxi Province, Luntai County of Xinjiang and Guangdong Province’s Zengcheng City are leading the way.

To ensure the implementation of compulsory education, a series of key education projects have been carried out, with billions of RMB forked out in the process. Wang Dinghua, deputy director of the Basic Education Department at the Ministry of Education, remarked that the government spent RMB 160 billion on tuition fee exemptions and free textbooks for compulsory education from 2006 to 2010.

As the Ministry of Education stated in June 2009, the nineyear compulsory education model has been effectively promoted, and now the 12-year model is being encouraged in counties with the budget capacity to offer subsidies.

Twelve-year free education has not been instituted as a nationwide program in China. But since the 2010 autumn semester the central and local governments have co-sponsored a grants program to aid senior middle school students from poorer families. It is estimated 20 percent of students from such families have already benefited from the program.

A Fair Chance for All

Several factors count against China in the realm of education – its population is enormous and dispersed; its educational foundation is far from solid, and it has embarked on reform relatively late. Up until recently, scarce educational resources were not distributed evenly to all areas, and schools with modern equipment, standout teachers and beautiful campuses were concentrated in big cities and developed areas along the coast.

Zhang Li, director of the National Center for Education Development Research under the Ministry of Education, remarked that the inequalities in educational opportunities are largely to the detriment of rural areas. A free market for education resources will not rectify these imbalances; government should assist the poor by offering them more and better opportunities in education.

The Hope Project is symbolic of efforts to offer an affordable quality education to all children. The project became part of the public conscience in 1991, when a newspaper photograph of sevenyear-old Su Mingjuan and her piercing gaze touched readers throughout the country. She became the symbol of the project, and was assisted right through to entering university in 2003.

In the Finance Department of Anhui University, Su supported herself by working part time until she finished her degree. She secured a white-collar job at the Anhui Provincial Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, shortly after which she began financially assisting two disadvantaged students on her own.

“Meeting with them every year and talking with them regularly is more important than giving them money. They deserve our attention. We need to foster students’ interests, passions and potential, and help them plan for the future,” Su said.

Every student benefits from compulsory education in China. But to narrow the gap between different regions, more welfare initiatives should be carried out in the country’s poorer areas. If we set a good example for these children and collectively provide them with financial aid, they are more likely to contribute positively to society in the future.